No Longer Newly Knighted
by TheKnightedLady
Summary: Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan is back; five years since she was released from her post at New Hope she's revisiting the ever-expanding town to visit old friends. But life just doesn't stop and where this mission will take her even Kel isn't sure...
1. Prologue: Reflections

**Prologue – Reflections**

_As you can probably guess... I don't own Lady Kel, Tobe or any other of the character's from Tamora Pierce's novels. I only own my characters which so far are...well you'll find out... :-D _

_Please review – this is my first Fanfic and I would love to know what people think. Have the next couple of chapters if people think it's worth running with... _

_X x x_

* * *

Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan paused only briefly on the home-stretch towards the town borne from the refugee camp she had once guarded. Even in that second of a hesitation she still managed to survey everything around her and to wonder at its development. Seeing New Hope again, she felt as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. In the year that had passed since she had made her last visit, she had often wondered how everything was going up here on the Scanran Border.

Upon being reassigned from the post of town leader as the war had finally ended, Kel had been sad but had known it was for the best. Still within her mind there had sat a seed of doubt that history would repeat itself and the moment she turned her back on her camp-turned-town it would become a pile of ashes. Memories of that horrifying day still haunted her dreams; the faces of her dead refugees sending her with a shove back into consciousness. On waking the dull grey tones of dawn always reminded Kel that it was in the past and she had paid her dues to those who fell.

It pleased her now to see that her New Hope had spread plant-like in its growth across the wide, flat plain that Master Numair the mage had raised for them. Where there had been thin and tentative shoots coming from the seed of settlement, there were now thick substantial roots and stems creating a firm foundation for the trade post. And from where she sat at that moment, Kel saw that New Hope was flowering, and flourishing.

She shivered but firmly examined the landscape before her as proof that the refugees' deaths had not been in vain all those years ago. Though the fields were empty of both crops and workers, they had also been moved further from the fortified heart of the town than they once were as buildings had spread outside of the walls.

The Shadow Man and his machines had been defeated almost five years ago; what seemed almost a blink of an eye to the second Lady Knight of the Tortallan realm. In that time she had seen many things, both good and evil that she had never thought to have witnessed before and Kel hoped that they had, on reflection, helped her to become a better knight.

Now at twenty-three years old she was no longer green in her experience. In fact she had only just managed to get out of having a squire this year despite being badgered by the tutors of the pages. Her reasoning had come from the tall, tanned boy that could be found riding by her side even now.

Tobe had changed too in the last year more so than Kel had done in the five years overall. As a fourteen year old he was tall; taller than most boys of his age but not as tall as her (not yet least ways.) His head was bent down low from experience of riding with a knight as a surrogate mother and he urged the horse on with quiet words. Where boyish features had reigned in the past with a naive beauty, there was now the face of a man-child. He wasn't completely finished growing yet and that could be seen in the roundness of his cheeks, the smoothness of his chin and the sprinkle of spots on his forehead. Yet his voice had become a rich, warming resonating sound that had appeared with complete surprise last mid-winter. Tobe still reminded Kel everyday of the nine-year old child she had restored to health all those years ago but now he was healthier, stronger, bigger and getting more so by the day.

She had reasoned with the palace's teachers that she would take a squire next year when Tobe had decided what he wanted to do. At the moment he was torn between joining the King's Own and attending the Royal University in the capital. Kel was happy whatever he chose to do; he had become like a son to her at an age when she had barely left childhood herself. Despite this she would support him in any decision and had made sure that he had the best care and education she could possibly supply him with as the years had passed.

He had travelled with her when he could, was allowed and when out of classes but between periods he had remained in the small lodgings Kel had been given in the Palace. When he had at last started to trust that she wasn't going to leave him, and he had been officially adopted, he had let her go on Knight's business, though they missed each other terribly.

Kel slowed her mount as they began to enter the first rows of houses and Tobe drew in by her flank. People in the streets stopped what they were doing to look who had arrived. Those who knew her from her past visit and their combined history shouted out greetings whilst newcomers were told the story of Lady Kel by old residents. At the heart of the town the old wall rose before her like an old familiar friend, the stones having been repaired in places but still looking like it had when she had last seen it and as it stood in her memory from her time here. One of the large oak doors stood open for the residents and visitors who were milling around so Kel drew her horse off to the side a way just for a moment.

Tobe turned in his saddle to look up at her curiously. He reminded Kel of all her old classmates back at school; in him she often beheld the same awkward ways and manners her friends had had when navigating the No Man's Land between the stages of maturity. His hair was now a burnt blonde and fell thickly down his head to curl on his collar. Kel had kept on at him for days at the end of their last assignment to have it cut before coming north and even then she had had to stand over him whilst it was done. If Tobe had his way it would be left to grow and though longer hair looked fine on him, the last time he had tried it Kel had been the one who had bore the brunt of the curses when she wrestled the wind-swept knots out of it each night.

"Are we going in then, Kelhen?" Tobe asked her lightly watching the play of emotions across Kel's face, using the nickname he had made when she had become a fussing mother hen after his adoption. She still had nightmares every now and then about Haven Tobe knew – when she was at home he stayed in her room on a spare cot.

Kel scowled at the nickname then smiled anyway. The boyish grin that had lit Tobe's face had cast shadows of a disappearing childlike innocence across developing features in a way that made it impossible not to smile back even with the light teasing. It made her happy to see him this way, filled with confidence and contentment.

"I suppose we had better go and see how they are faring." Kel sighed deeply and Tobe's smile grew bigger.

"Then lead the way Lady Knight," Tobe replied and with a cluck to their mounts, the pair passed through the gates of Inner New Hope.


	2. Chapter One: Changes

**Chapter One – Changes**

Once inside the main square of the town, Tobe dismounted and gathered the reins of their mounts. He rode the horse Kel had brought him for his thirteenth birthday; a gelding chosen by him of a deep black almost blue colour. Tobe had called him Asher and for such a large horse, the then tiny Tobe had managed him splendidly. Now it seemed lucky he had chosen such a large horse for a pony simply would not have been able to hold him.

Kel also had a new horse. Peachblossom and Hoshi both remained in the palace stables used only for riding in Corus. Jump had also stayed in the capital for her last couple of tours; time had been kind on the dog but she didn't think it was fair to make unwilling animals travel when they were perfectly happy to stay where they were. Kel's new mare was called Streak for the band of white that spanned either side of her otherwise chestnut brown coat and for the sheer speed she seemed to manage without breaking a sweat.

Both Kel and Tobe took a minute to survey the inner-city as they unloaded their packs and gave their horses to a stable-boy. Wood had been replaced by stone and mortar; in the place of single-story barracks and communal quarters stood permanent town buildings and private homes sometimes with additional floors. On this, the other side of the wooden doors of the walls, the cobbled courtyard was surrounded on every side by white washed buildings that leaned over it in a way that Kel had never seen in New Hope. When their mounts were being led away and they had piled their bags on the cobbles a lean figure burst through the door of a nearby building and hurried towards them.

"Kel!" Fanche half screamed as she enveloped the surprised Lady Knight in her arms. Behind her Saefas, a bouncy toddler at his side and a bundle in his arms joined them smiling indulgently. "It's so good to finally see you again. And there's so much for you to catch up on!"

"And it's good to see you at last. How are you feeling?" When Kel had last been in New Hope three years ago it had been to attend the naming ceremony of the pair's first child. She had been chosen as godmother in the ceremony that had taken place just a month after her adoption of Tobe, making her feel strangely loved. When she'd been released by Fanche Kel pulled back and surveyed the tiny child in her husband's arms.

"Congratulations on your new little one both of you. Have you named her yet?" The four week old girl had wide bright eyes like her mother and a wisp of wild curls. She reached forward a tiny fist which Keladry touched with a finger. Suddenly the infant gripped it for a moment, just the tip, and released it to nestle closer to her father's chest.

"No but we know what she will be called. The ceremony's tonight. We'd like to ask you to be godmother again." Kel looked up at Fanche as her heart swelled with joy. When she smiled Fanche beamed in response.

"I'd be honoured." A small movement at the woman's side caught her attention. The toddler was hiding by his mother's leg but studying her curiously. His tiny furrowed brow sent her flying into the past when she had witnessed it before from his father. His features were so similar to the town's leader that it was eerie to look on it at such an early age. Despite Fanche's features, the boy had his father's colouring, eyes and seemingly, mannerisms too.

"And you must be Haive. You've grown so much since I last saw you! You definitely won't remember me." Kel smiled warmly at the shy child who she hadn't seen since he was a writhing pocket of warm blankets that had made her eyes prickle. Slowly, when the child returned her smile Kel reached out her arms and picked him up. He came willing up and she spun him round calling a squeal of delight from the three year old. "I bet your mother has told you to call me Auntie Kel to annoy me, but I don't mind honestly..."

Tickling her Godson, the Lady Knight made conversation with his parents about the town in which they were standing. Haive was oblivious; too caught up in the delight of a new and eager playmate that could throw him round and tickle him like his otherwise distracted father. Kel was also delighted to form a friendship with the child who would supposedly be in her care if anything happened to Fanche and Saefas, and yet who she had seen little of.

"Everything is really good; I'm getting bored frankly. The job's easy nowadays, not like when you were here – causing trouble whenever I turned my back." Fanche took the baby from her husband and watched her son and Kel smiling.

"Nonsense," Saefas interrupted with a sparkle in his eyes. He may have aged over the five years but the only show of it was laughter lines. "You love it here. Rounds and work in the morning and play with your son, and daughter, in the afternoon."

All three laughed and then Kel turned to Tobe, Haive propped on her hip.

"You remember Fanche and her husband don't you Tobe?" He stepped forward smiling, stretching out a hand and looking very grown-up. Saefas shook his hand and Fanche beamed in return.

"Son, I can see you growing just standing here - look at you!" Fanche mocked but with a twinkle in her eye. "And you're getting just as gorgeous as your ma."

Kel's mouth dropped open. Fanche had never, ever in all her years of knowing her, been emotional and complimentary. Hell, for the years when she had first arrived at Haven she had been downright rude and obtuse to Kel as camp leader because she was a new, green, Knight.

Fanche turned and, cooing to her newborn, ushered Kel and Tobe into the council building she had exited from, picking up a bag with her other hand. Kel was left to look at her husband for an explanation. Saefas just shrugged.

"She's getting soft in her old age and maternal as a cat with kittens now she had the second babe. It's the hormones." Kel just laughed and followed New Hope's leaders into their lodgings.

* * *

The rest of the day was taken up with a tour round New Hope and sitting in on several town matters to give her opinion as an honoured guest. Back at the council building, Kel and Tobe had been given rooms underneath Fanche's family apartment where they unpacked and had eaten a private meal before getting ready for the naming ceremony that was to be held behind the town on a square of land next to the river. A bonfire had been built and there would be food stalls and entertainment afterwards to celebrate the little girl's birth.

Having bathed, Kel dressed in a plain white tunic and hose while she decided what to put on. Fanche had said it was a formal affair in her letter and so Kel had packed one of the dresses that Yuki had helped her to choose for the naming ceremony of their third child that she had never worn. She also had a smart fitted tunic and tight trousers that she had bought at mid-winter.

Fanche had shown her that afternoon, with something close to girlish excitement and pride, the dress she had bought for the ceremony; it was a long flowing white affair cut in a similar style to hers and yet in Kel's opinion, slightly more reserved. Lalasa had made both dresses of course as a personal favour to Kel – Fanche's via messenger for design and Kel's through hours of tortuous fittings. Lalasa was now the Royal seamstress but still made all of her former employer's clothes both for in the field and out. At the moment she seemed to be experimenting with how much feminine style she could insert into the pieces before Kel refused to wear them; this year's wardrobe saw the Lady Knight wearing plunge, scoop and v-necks, short sleeves and mid-calf items. All in all Kel thought Lalasa was winning the war to make sure everyone remembered that she was the Second Lady Knight of the Realm; the dress before her in particular showed more than her conventional tunic and trousers ever would.

Deciding to try it on and see how it looked, Kel pulled the dress over her head. It was a deep emerald colour to bring out the flecks of green in her hazel eyes and had been modelled on the dress of the goddesses; roped shoulder straps with a deep v-neck, fitted at the bottom edge of the breast-band so that it could flare out down to its ending at mid-calf. Kel liked the way the colour made her look and upon gazing at her reflection in the mirror, wondered whether it was returning here that made her think how much she had changed or from noticing Tobe's growth this morning.

Her hair was longer – that was the most startling difference. The medium length cut she had favoured when in charge of New Hope had been replaced for a much longer and untamed approach. She cut it every now and then but her hair now fell down to her shoulder blades in wave that were highlighted in blonde from the sun. Yuki and Thayet had pestered her in morning glaive practise to try growing it just to see how it would look for months until she had finally relented.

There were other subtle changes about her too, which was no surprise after five years. Her skin was now a deep bronze colour from the time she had spent on the coast of Tortall recently. Faint patterns of freckles wandered her cheeks and her nose; a family trait Kel thought she had missed from her parents but had now found, much to her annoyance.

Kel had also finally stopped growing. At five foot nine, when she had been a tall girl now she was something close to an Amazonian woman. When her height had come to rest, the rest of her had realigned itself to give a hint of the Mindelan figure her sisters had received so early from their mother. Her hips flared down from her waist that followed a fuller bosom than she had realised would arrive when she was a Page. No longer was she a gangly girl; she was undoubtedly feminine but strong and lithe. There were muscles under the sparse curves she had but hard lines too that showed hours of work. Back in Corus she was looked on with admiration as well as wonder, awe and a little fear.

The dress showed her strong arms but also emphasised her shape. It looked good on her, Kel realised. Good enough for the godmother to the town leader's children least ways. With a quick brush of her hair that was left wetly curling on her back, Kel drew Griffin and its scabbard loosely round her waist so it hung in replacement of the corded belt that had come with the dress – she never went anywhere without her sword not even in New Hope. A cloak over the dress would help her stand the cooling night air until she was beside the fire in the clearing and was pulled on as she hurried through the door to call for Tobe.

* * *

The whole town had turned out at the bonfire for the naming ceremony of the little girl. Children ran in groups playing chasing games and screaming, oddly lit in the semi-darkness by the leaping flames of the fire. The sharp acidic smoke stung Kel's nostrils at first but became comfortable after a moment. It wasn't like the fearful smelling smoke of battle; it was filled with the excitement and joy of the occasion which chased away any unpleasantness that lingered in the act of destruction.

On the far-side, a ring had been made of small stones at the centre stood Fanche, Saefas and a priest dressed in a long flowing white robe. The adults of the town were beginning to gather around the edges of the circle and calling offspring back to them to create the order and serenity needed for the ceremony. The light of the fire moved swiftly from face to face, highlighting for Kel's brief gaze the happiness mirrored on each individual's expression. The memories of fear and danger that had long plagued the people of New Hope so long ago were just that now: deeply buried and dusty memories. Most of the people here now were unfamiliar to her.

Three years ago when she had last returned there had been a few familiar faces but it seemed that most of the refugees had returned to their places of origin leaving Fanche and Saefas as two of few remaining original inhabitants. But the town hadn't depleted in size – it had grown. Tortallans were eager to move here now so long after the war had ended and since the new council of Scanra had been so eager to trade with Tortall. New Hope was thriving with business as a trade route between the two allied countries.

Kel and Tobe stepped into the circle as the voices of the New Hope's inhabitant's fell into hushed conversation as they waited for the ceremony to start. Fanche had kept the name for the little girl secret between her and her husband so everyone was eager to hear what it would be. Haive had been named to commemorate the old refugee camp both Fanche and Kel had led that had stood not far from here. Kel was uncertain whether Fanche would do something similar with the naming of her daughter.

Tobe stood to the side where the godparents and their family stood to receive the child into their midst at one part of the ceremony, while Kel strode straight over to Fanche and Saefas to be introduced to the priest. After greetings and cooing over the children and the dresses Kel returned to Tobe's side as the priest began.

When the priest repeated prayers the voices of the inhabitants rang out in the night up into the sky. The only noise besides the priest of the Goddess was the crackling of the fire and the odd murmur from the children of the crowd. Once the speech and blessing were over, the priest called Fanche and Saefas over and asked them to present the child to him with her full name so that she would be known to the Goddess. Saefas smiled lovingly at his wife who held her daughter out to the priest proudly and together they told him,

"Goddess this is our daughter. Bless her and keep her. Goddess, please guide Hope Keladry Ploughman in every decision, in every moment, in every step along her path."

The priest greeted Hope and told her and her parents that the Goddess would watch over her. Next he called to Keladry to come and take Hope from Fanche as he assigned her as her Godmother. When asked whether she would love and care for this child if the time came for her parents to return to the Goddess, tears welled in her eyes as she agreed and repeated her pledge back to the priest.

With the ceremony nearly over Kel went back to Tobe's side and held Hope as the priest said another prayer for the baby girl's future and for the health and wellbeing of her parents so they might guide her as a child.

Finally the priest invited Kel and Tobe then Fanche and Saefas back to the centre to return Hope to her parents and to greet the rest of the crowd.

"Brothers and Sisters I greet you in the name of the Goddess," The priest said. "May she bless you with health and happiness, as she has blessed Fanche and Saefas with new life. Bear witness to the naming and presenting of Hope Keladry Ploughman to the Goddess and go forth and spread the good news. So mote it be."

And with that the crowd descended. They answered the priest with excited squeals and then circled Fanche and Saefas presenting gifts to the couple, to Haive and to Hope. Kel felt oddly content as a warm glow, not from the bonfire, filled her heart. She smiled and stepped away from the mass of people with Tobe at her side. He smiled up at her and put an arm around her waist in silent recognition of feelings that neither often identified aloud.

At that very moment Kel felt happier than she had been in months. She had a new god-daughter to spoil rotten for a week before returning to Corus and reality to help support the great realm that was Tortall.

Then as she turned and lifted her head, she caught sight of the last person in the realm that she ever wanted to see again, standing observing her by the bonfire.

Domitan of Masbolle.


	3. Chapter Two: Plea

**Chapter Two: Plea**

Kel stood and stared.

She'd manage to avoid all but minimum contact with the Third Company of the King's Own that Dom was in charge of; most but not all. Her time as squire to Raoul of Goldenlake, Commander of the Own, had meant that she had made a lot of friends within the ranks of men in the Own and so she had often seen glimpses of him. And in every visit she made to any of the men who worked under Raoul, she was treated to updates about everyone including one particular sergeant with whom she hadn't spoken since that horrific mission in the Royal Forest two years ago. Of course, she had worked with the Own since then but never Third Company or Dom – Raoul knew how she felt about what had happened.

Time had not affected Dom in any of the ways Kel had hoped it would in the months following that fateful day. She had hoped that time would sour his looks; it had not. If anything he radiated life and youthfulness at twenty-seven years old. She had hoped that time would take the thickness and colour of his hair; it had not. She could see the glossy brown waves even from this distance, gleaming in the light of the bonfire. She had hoped time would mark his face with lines of age; it had not. His cheeks were still perfect with a smattering of travel stubble. Dom still looked exactly the same, if not more handsome and passionate; strength and power seemed to fill the air around him.

But in that moment she didn't care, for once, how he looked. In that moment, for once, she didn't notice or appreciate how well and how very alive Dom looked, compared to the last memory she had of him. She was looking in his eyes. She was searching for a fleck of regret, of sorrow, of repentance at what had happened when she had last travelled with the Third Company.

But she found none.

She had hoped most of all that time would diminish the fire in his eyes that she saw – two bright torches of hope and determination burning her within his gaze; it had not. As he watched her, Kel felt physically trapped in the sheer power of his scrutiny as he studied her at length. His gaze was a warm path across her body which when it met her eyes every couple of heart-beats in that moment, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. But there was no apology within those deep blue pools, no remorse.

And that stiffened her resolve. That made it easier for Kel to pull away from the tagging currents of Domitan's cerulean ocean eyes and raise her head in defiance.

With graphic memories that filled her with sorrow, remorse and guilt flashing through her head, this lack of regret made it possible for Kel to turn and walk with Tobe to join the greetings line for baby Hope. Possible, but not easier.

* * *

Kel knew that it was traditional to have a greetings line at naming ceremonies but she wasn't surprised that Tobe was getting bored. Five minutes into the cursed thing he leaned over and whispered into her ear from his position at her right-hand side, "How many more people live in this town?"

Kel had to smother a giggle as she shook the hand of the head of the New Hope Guard. Every person at that ceremony could come up to the greetings line which had Kel, Tobe, Fanche, Saefas, Haive and Hope lined up beside the bonfire, and formally greet the new-born. Usually not everyone took this opportunity, but it seemed tonight that every resident from New Hope and the villages surrounding had come to witness the naming. Kel was getting fed up of formally introducing herself, titles and all, with her new one attached:

"Hello, I'm Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan; godmother to Haive and Hope..."

Being the mature on for once, Kel shushed her son and looked up to greet the next guest, then stopped in shock. Before her stood a couple of good friends she hadn't seen in over a year – since they had both been back in the palace at the same time; before her last tour of the realm and before the couple travelled to the homeland of her best friend's bride to see her parents.

"Surprise!" Sir Nealan of Queenscove and his wife Yuki stood before her grinning foolishly at her astonishment. They rushed forward to embrace Kel as the news that she was getting to see her best-friend sunk in and the formal introduction died on her lips.

Pulling back to look at her friends Kel finally took another breath and spoke.

"Gods, it's so good to see you!" Kel squealed stepping forward to embrace Yuki again.

"It's good to see you too Kel and have you changed!" Neal said smiling widely at his friend. "Maybe I might have a chance of returning one of those beatings to you from so long ago."

Kel scowled. "Not a chance Neal. I could whoop your behind all the way from here to Corus with my eyes closed."

Yuki laughed loudly as Neal pouted then released the smile he had been trying to hide and looked behind them at the small line forming, waiting. "True my dear, true. We'll catch up with you in a bit, we're making traffic. It truly is good to see you Kel."

Kel gripped Yuki's hand for a moment then pushed Neal on to talk to Tobe where they both began to exclaim at how much the boy had grown. Kel despaired; it wasn't like he was going to stay a child forever.

Before Kel could even think of attempting to flee, a warm hand grabbed hers to stop her from leaving the line. Dom stood before her again but this time so close that she could faintly smell the woodsy smell of earth, grass and moss that she would always associate with him. Kel wrenched her hand away from him but stayed in the line knowing that it wouldn't be fair to disrupt Fanche and Saefas' big-day for Hope just because of one guest. Skipping the introduction, Kel spoke quickly without emotion as the Yamani's had taught her so long ago on their faraway isle.

"What do you want Domitan?"

"Kel, it's good to see you. I tried to find you the last time you were at the Own's stables but Raoul said -" As soon as he spoke, Kel allowed herself to look into his eyes to watch for truths and lies. The moment his mouth opened and his melodic voice filled her ears again after so long, the hard surface of his eyes broke to release hot streams of bubbling joy to see her. The warm emotion swirled around the cool waters of his eyes to warm it all; like a pan on a fire in a moment his eyes held nothing but steaming and swirling happiness.

"Don't Dom. Is there something you wanted to say? Only, there's a line forming," Kel interrupted him. She really couldn't stand him acting as if nothing had happened last time she had seen him. Dom glanced behind him and for what seemed like the first time noticed the other townspeople waiting.

"I need to talk to you, only for a moment I promise. After that I'll go."

Kel took a moment to think this over. She had known him for so long she ought to listen to what he had to say for just a moment shouldn't she? They had been through a lot together before everything had gone wrong and that counted for something... didn't it?

Before her stood a desolate man with a look of pleading on his face. His eyes were wide and open to her for rejection or agreement. The happiness at seeing her that had sneaked into the back of his eyes, gave him an air of innocence and youth that reminded her so much of a young page Neal. She couldn't refuse him.

"Alright Dom. Give me five minutes and I'll meet you by the bonfire. Ten minutes and then you're gone."

* * *

The light from the bonfire did unfair things to Dom's appearance when Kel arrived. One look at Fanche after Dom had removed himself from the line, released Kel of her duties. On her way across Kel collected her thoughts and feelings together and stuffed them out of sight at the back of her mind where they couldn't escape as Dom said what he obviously needed to.

Yamani face firmly in place where she felt it definitely belonged - Kel came to a stop a safe distance from Dom. However as soon as she ceased to move he commenced, advancing like a magnet drawn towards her.

He stood too close again and his smell returned to fill her nostrils. She could see the details of his face which had once been so familiar; the scar above his eyebrow, the line of his top lip, the pattern the stubble made on his cheek. The way that he looked so much the same as her Dom from years before played with Kel's mind and threatened to overwhelm her senses, so she shut her eyes as she spoke. Yamani breathing patterns helped to keep her in check as she spoke.

"You have ten minutes Dom... say what you need to say."

Dom seemed to hesitate for a moment and then began slowly, his rich voice intensifying Kel's anxiety.

"Kel I need your help. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency and could be helped, but I am in dire need of you and your expertise. I have to take the Third Company into Scanra to free the First Company from a band of bandit slavers. Raoul set them off the record to apprehend them three months ago, but they themselves have been apprehended. Now though he says it's too much of a risk to go after them, so we too are going off the books. There are too many good men in that squad who have risked their life over and over for Tortall for us to leave them there for a fate worse than death. I need you to help me Kel, please?"

Kel opened her eyes wearily but instead of looking up, examined the floor as she thought. She had guessed that it would be something similar to this. The fact that Raoul felt he couldn't send another Company off the record after the First showed just how serious this problem was. Kel would have loved to have helped the Own but her own memories Raoul and his lessons filled her mind. He had taught her well and she felt slightly annoyed in his honour at Domitan's decision to take off after the First alone. She knew Raoul would not let the situation go as it stood and must have a plan – adding to other things she resolutely kept from the front of her mind with her Yamani skill of blankness, her mind was already made up before Dom had finished speaking.

"No." Kel said quietly remaining focused on the rocks and debris at her feet.

"No?" Dom repeated loudly. He sounded angry to Kel but she would need to see his face to be sure, and that in itself was a bad idea. "No? Have you no heart? The entire First Company could be killed and you're refusing to help? All those men have fought besides you countless times before. And you say No?"

How dare he? Kel thought. How dare he question my loyalties, the hypocrite? Anger flared within her at his tone and Kel raised her chin in defiance to meet his gaze square on.

"I have more heart than you Domitan of Masbolle. How dare you come into my friend's naming ceremony and accuse me. You asked for my help and I refused, it's that simple. I cannot help you with such a mission off the record and nor would you ask it of a knight if you respected them in their position. You should know with all your years and experience that the situation will not require you to go charging after the First without back-up."

"The Kel I used to know would have leapt straight in to help. She wouldn't have needed asking," Dom retorted angrily, his face flushing red faintly. "I wouldn't have needed to come and find her; she would know for herself and have devised a scheme already to get every single one of those men away."

Kel's resolve shook as he tried to get at her using her morals and sense of justice but she tried to hold steady. It wasn't the mission, or the other people involved, or the danger, or the trouble she found at the front her mind when following her decision. It was him. Her eyes prickled sharply at the corners as Kel pictured the men from the First who she knew and could this night be somewhere chained to a slaving wagon.

"That Kel is long gone Domitan; replaced by one with more sense and knowledge than to charge into a situation with only truth and honour at her side. You know deep down that Raoul will not let this slide and you risk yourself and your own men in running after the First."

Dom opened his mouth with an angry retort yet Keladry was not finished, and she spoke again quickly before he completed his first word.

"I can't do it Dom." Kel said again quietly then turned slowly and walked back to where Tobe was waiting for her to go back to their lodgings.

* * *

Later in her room, Kel was readying for bed with Yuki as they caught up on each other's lives. Neal was downstairs with Fanche discussing the medical supplies he had brought with him from the capital.

Dom's visit had unsettled Kel more than she would have liked and she was curious as to why Neal and Yuki had agreed to bring him with them.

"He's Neal's cousin, Kel." Yuki told her when Kel spoke her mind. "He told us that it was urgent that he spoke with you but you wouldn't respond to any of his letters. Neal readily agreed to bring him along – they haven't seen each other in nearly as long as you and Dom. Every time Neal tries to see him Dom makes some excuse and says that he isn't good enough to be with him at the moment, whatever that means."

"I have no idea," Kel murmured brushing her hair through absent-mindedly as she thought. "Did he travel with you all the way from Corus?"

"No; he met us about half way here. He told me that he had been stationed with Third Company near the border with Scanra doing some preparation work for mid-winter." Yuki paused for a moment from where she was examining a pair of Yamani fans Kel had picked up on her travels last year.

"Kel... talk to me truthfully. I'm not dense enough to have missed your feelings for him all those years ago. What happened? Why do you look on him so coolly now? Do any of your feelings remain?"

At first Kel considered attempting to brush her best friend's wife aside with a comment on her Yamani mask and on the isles idea of proper decorum, but she knew it would never work. Sinking into deep in thought again she took a moment to process each question. Did she still have any feelings left for Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle? Could she feel anything remotely similar to all those years ago, ever again?

"Yuki I honestly have no idea. Right now all I feel is a strange detachment everytime I look at him. Nothing happened between us but I've seen and heard a lot of things I don't agree with in my years as a knight. I'm no longer newly knighted Yuki – I've had experience. Memories haunt my dreams and images hang on the backs of my eyes to taunt me when I shut them. What happened between me and Dom was nothing special or new or different, but it highlights for me everything that has changed in me, in all of us, including Dom, as time passes. What I learnt was disturbing."

Kel paused helplessly, unwillingly to explain to her friend what shameful events she had been part of. What she feared the most was seeing a look of disgust on Yuki's face – no longer one to hide her emotions as she was brought up, she had gradually fell into the Tortallan way of display and conceal in her time as a citizen of the realm. And as a civilian Kel had no doubt that Yuki would only view the situation detrimentally.

"It's hard to describe really. To me Dom used to be perfect, maybe I've just realised that no-one can possibly live up to that standard every single day of their lives. It makes me think about my own character too."

As the conversation lulled into a comfortable silence both women digested these sentiments. Kel finished brushing her hair and removed Griffin from around her waist as Yuki drew her cloak back around her shoulders to cross the courtyard to her lodgings. It was late and no surprise that Yuki was bidding goodnight but Kel knew that her friend was also worried that she had refused to tell her what had really happened, and that she needed to think and discuss with Neal. She had not heard the end of this but it was enough for tonight.

With Yuki gone, Kel finally managed to crawl into her bed after a long day. But sleep evaded her. Images of Dom from the past and that night filled her head, and when she finally did get to sleep, her dreams and nightmares too...


	4. Chapter Three: Nightmare

**Chapter Three: A Real-life Nightmare**

_The sounds of men filled her ears. Men screaming battle cries. Men screaming in pain. Men screaming orders. None of it made any sense – it was all a writhing mass forcing its way into her head but the tones were ones she'd heard many times before. The desperate, frustrated, emotional clamour of battle._

_Somewhere, something was on fire. The fumes burnt their way up her nostrils making it difficult to breathe without gagging or choking. It was probably one of the caravans from the convoy; there was the heavy stench of tar-coated wood weather-proofed against the elements as well as the acidic odour of scorched flesh. The smell brought with it suggestions of the scenes that could be found just beyond the trees on the horizon but Kel pushed them from her mind and concentrated on the charging men with lethally accurate weapons._

_Around her everything was green. The trees reached forever above searching for the light that had been promised just that little bit higher. Their barks were a blend of emerald and russet where moss clung on in patches. Several of the trees had deadly exposed roots, hardened and distorted on a quest for moisture. The ground below was a blanket of plant-life in a range of colours and heights. Kel's clearing was mostly ankle-high grasses that had been trampled by both the feet of friend and foe._

_The Royal Forest – the last stop on the road before the capital Corus. A place storing the magic held in the crown. A place considered safe by all. A place where now two companies of the Own and several Knights were fighting for their lives against slave smugglers._

_They had stupidly been ambushed. Kel knew that. The Third and Fifth Companies had been lying in wait for the smugglers on a route uncovered running parallel to the royal road. Kel had been stationed with the Fifth close enough to see the first wagon following a line of chained men beating down the undergrowth for the caravans. And that was when she had realised what the smugglers were risking death to transport from the coast; slaves. The idea of slave smugglers in Tortall made Kel's blood boil and in that moment, before logic and reason had returned to her, the extensive security detail for the convoy had struck from all sides._

_The first man of yet another charging group reached Kel and the soldiers on either side of her from the Own moved as swiftly as she did; cutting men down, disarming them, disabling them. Kel ran one man through with Griffin as he tried to cut her neck from her shoulders. She couldn't use her glaive here – the trees were too close together for it to be practical. On and on the smugglers came brandishing swords, daggers, spears and axes._

_As hard as they fought they kept coming. Kel dimly noted when one of the men with her fell but she had not time to stop and try to help. She couldn't believe how many there were – how many had been through Tortall taking human beings into the next country where it was socially accepted to have slaves, without anyone noticing..._

_It was a very non-descript smuggler who injured her. It wasn't any great adversary, any huge challenge of an opponent or even a worthy match. In a battle like this, such close quarters and such numbers, it didn't surprise Kel; not every defeat was one where you were well-matched. Life just wasn't that fair._

_It was a small ragged man who simply got lucky and played dirty._

_The smuggler jumped in from her left away from the soldier who had almost severed his shoulder. He brought his sword up in a swooping underarm strike and sliced easily in the space between plates of armour to pierce her belly. He didn't live much longer after that but the damage was done._

_The wound was deep and started to bleed heavily almost as soon as the blade slid under her skin. Yelling in pain and frustration Kel stumbled back slightly from where the remaining line of the Own continued to hold their positions. One of those raised roots grabbed her foot as she staggered causing her to fall heavily against the tree it was attached to. She lay there resigned, hands pressed against the wound that did not so much as weep blood but sob hysterically. She could only limit the blood loss a little rather than stop it but she hoped that was enough until someone got to her._

_In that small distance away from where the fighting was beginning to swing in the Own's favour a strange silence reined until Kel heard a terrified whimper from behind her tree. The sound made her shiver; so full of pain and suffering was it that she forgot about her own injury and the pain that came like a lover with it. It only took Kel a moment to decide to find the source of the sound even though disturbing her wound would do it more damage in the long run – there was no way she could ignore that noise._

_Leaning against the other side of the tree was a small boy Kel took to be the same age, if not a little younger that her son. His face was white from the blood loss for he too had sustained a deep, long belly cut. The boy was thin and ragged like the man who had cut her but where that savage had been filled with hatred this boy was filled with sorrow. He was curled around his wound, hugging his knees trying to hide from the battle that still raged around them even though it made his wound open further._

_Kel slid herself slowly to his side where she did the only thing that came to her to try and get the boy to lie back; she wrapped her arms around him. He felt so familiar and yet so different to Tobe there in her arms – he was still only a child after all yet he was nothing but bones and skin where Tobe had felt so solid and alive for most of the time since she had found him. He was obviously a prisoner of the slavers; his bare feet showed signs of barely healed welts raised by iron manacles while his wrists were still held captive by a pair. Yet by his side lay a sword meaning he had been forced to fight. _

_Slowly and gradually the boy relaxed enough for her to guide his hands to his wound to press the sides together. Every time Kel tried to untangle her arms from the boy so she too could close her wound, he whimpered and started to move frantically causing his wound to seep more. Kel couldn't leave him any more than she had been able to withstand hearing his cries. He looked a little like Tobe and was so young that Kel found herself sitting next to him leaning against the tree getting comfy. When the boy's whimpers turned to cries, Kel soothed him and told him that they would both be alright soon. Over and over he asked for his mother, asked her where his family were, asked her why it hurt so much. He sounded so child-like and innocent that Kel felt tears sheen over her eyes even though her vision was beginning to blur too. Never before had the cries of her child affected her – never before had her maternal instinct truly made itself present. Tobe had fell into her life rather than been brought into it consciously. _

_In the back of her mind, a small traitorous voice reasoned that a change so large in a well lived personality such as hers must mark the end..._

_The sounds of the fight were growing more distant in her ears to be replaced by a dull, wet thumping and an odd roar. Every time a sword clanged or someone screamed, an occurrence that was growing less frequent, the boy cried out louder and leaned harder on her shoulder. She couldn't hold his hand, as they both needed both hands to stem the blood flow but it seemed to reassure the boy in the same way so Kel pushed back._

_After what felt like an eternity, but could have only been a few short minutes – after all she hadn't bled out yet – the sounds of the fight died completely. Finally a familiar loving face stumbled into view white with shock and pain. His eyes settled on her taking in the wound which eased some of the anxiety in his expression. Kel let out an unsteady breath; Dom was here – everything would be ok. They would both see healers and live to fight another day. Then she would find out about the boy's family and if they were gone, she would look after him with Tobe if he wanted. She couldn't leave him. He had been her only company in what could have been potentially her last moments – relationships made in such a way lasted longer than mere lifetimes._

_As cool hands checked her wound Kel's eyelids began to droop but Dom's heavenly voice told her to stay awake otherwise she would be in trouble with Lord Raoul. Kel opened her eyes again and took in the face that had filled her daydreams for the past eighteen months which was for once serious as it regarded her. The feelings she held close to her heart for Dom were worse than her feelings for Cleon and Neal had been combined. It had consumed the space where the warm familial love for her family and friends had sat and seemed to be preparing to break out of that into other areas of her insides as it grew. _

_Dom turned for a moment and for the first time Kel noticed four soldiers from the Third Company standing with a couple stretchers, behind him. Sombrely Dom spoke and told them that they would have to move her now._

_The pain flared in her gut as they did so and Kel didn't care that she cried out. Every nerve ending in her body seemed to be protesting at being taken from against the tree trunk. In that moment she would quite happily have stayed leaning there against the boy if the pain had returned to what it had been before. _

_Kel opened her eyes again once the jostling had stopped and turned her head to see if the boy had been loaded onto the other stretcher yet. _

_He had not._

_As the men holding her stretcher began to move with Dom at her side Kel yelled feebly for them to bring the boy with them. Dom turned his head to look down at her and Kel gasped in shock at the lack of emotion on his face. He said that the boy was part of the slavers and that his first priority was to get all of the Own's injured to safety. His eyes were carefully schooled into a blank, disinterested look. It held little hint at the concern that had been there moments before. His eyes seemed so strange and alien in that moment, so unlike the Dom that Kel knew. He had always been so caring, friendly and compassionate before then that it didn't make sense to Kel lying there holding her sides together. It continued to make even less to her as the roaring in her ears became louder._

_The last thing Kel heard before she fell back against the stretcher was the boy screaming again. He was louder and more desperate than the first time she had heard him crying but it wasn't from pain now. The boy was sobbing for her; he was begging for her to not go, for her not to leave him alone, for her to help him. All the way out of that luscious green forest that was so full of life, Kel heard the desperate dying cries of the child who had been a comforting presence to her as much as she had been to him._

_When the cries stopped, not because they had faded out of earshot but because they had ceased to echo about the trees altogether, Kel cried in anguish and closed her eyes ignoring Dom's protests..._

* * *

And sat up in bed.

Her whole body was dripping with sweat. Tears were running down her cheeks like they had every other time she had dreamt about that day three years ago. Lightly brushing the moisture from her cheeks Kel rose from the bed and crossed to where the full-length mirror stood. She looked a mess but right at that moment, Kel didn't care. Gingerly, she lifted her shirt to tuck the edge in the bottom of her breast-band, revealing her stomach. With her little finger Kel lightly traced the scar that still ran angry and jagged across her pale skin three years on. It was like the wound itself still mourned Dom's actions as Kel did, and what they meant for her.

She sighed and let her shirt drop. A moment later, new tears were tracing fresh tracks down her cheeks as she brokenly whispered into the darkness the name of the little boy she had spent those short moments with.

"Kesa."

That was her little boy's name. He had been ten years old and forced into slavery at a time when Tobe had been eleven years old, her officially adopted son for a year and studying with a professor in sciences.

It was on nights like this when she relived the whole thing rather than simply flashes of her real-life nightmare – that it felt like he truly was hers and the wound was where he had been wrenched from her rather than the thing that had led her to him.

As Kel stood there she remembered what had happened those few years ago when she had woken up in the hospital. For a matter of minutes she had forgotten why she had been there and had been overjoyed that Dom had been sitting by her bed looking absolutely exhausted and anxious. It made her feel ashamed now at how much it had thrilled her when he had admitted how scared he had been when he had found her leaning deathly white against a tree.

And that was what it took to bring her back to reality; because it wasn't the tree she had been leaning against in the end – it had been the boy: it had been Kesa. It all came flooding back to her then, those last few moments before they moved her. The clearest image in her head had been the carefully controlled stare of Dom as he had looked the boy over; the child lying besides her bleeding to death of exactly the same injuries that she had obtained. She who lay there alive now.

She'd cracked then. When Dom went to take her hand and to speak Kel had pulled it away with disgust and screamed at him. She'd told him he was a heartless fool who should have saved the child with so much of a life left to live rather than her. She couldn't believe it – her Dom, Neal's dear cousin; just as sweet and gentle and caring but more intelligent and witty. Kel remembered how bitterly she had felt when she thought that she had been wrong about Dom and too eager to believe that he was as good as his cousin; her best friend.

Dom determinedly took her hand again then, in the hospital, and told her of how they had managed to save ten men of the Own after they had brought her out of the forest, that might not have made it if they had tried to get the boy on the stretcher too without making the wound worse.

Kel had screamed, furious at him and feeling guilty for letting them take her to leave the boy alone, demanding to know what gave him the right to choose who to help; to choose who would live and who would die. Neal had appeared at her bed side then and ordered Dom out before giving Kel a sedative to make her sleep.

When released from the hospital Kel had gone straight to Raoul to demand to know what had happened. He had been happy that they had managed to save so many of their men from such a bad situation which Kel could appreciate. When she explained what had happened Raoul understood why she was upset but asked her what she would have done in Dom's position, if you could see that moving the boy would only make the wound worse. Kel held no ill-will against Lord Raoul for his answers – he hadn't been there – but he had made her feel sickened by herself when she realised that she probably would have done what Dom had done. She was just as bad as him but that didn't make her forgive him any.

It was at that moment that Keladry realised that while she was angry at Dom for the choice he had made, she felt angry at herself for she would have done the same – and she felt angry at the military training that they had both received - the same as Lord Raoul, which would have made them to make that choice. In that moment Kel felt old for the first time; for the first time in her life and her career the injustices that she had witnessed as a soldier got past her Yamani guard and had struck deep at her green insides, sucking the colour and innocence from them.

The next time Dom had come to see her at the hospital he caught her crying for Kesa and demanded to know why. When she had tried to explain Dom couldn't see what made her cry and Neal had arrived again to put her to sleep before she hyperventilated. Moments before she became unconscious, Kel remembered looking up into the face of Domitan of Masbolle – the man she loved but loathed and who made her loath herself – and asked him who he was. After that her memory was filled with darkness and brief memories of days in the hospital but no more of Dom.

Neal had explained afterwards that he had kept her sedated whilst she healed and had forbidden Dom from coming to see her until Neal himself had managed to talk to her. Since then Kel had avoided close contact with Dom and avoided the subject with Neal, still guilty about Kesa's death and sick to her core that she was so similar to Dom that she would have done the same in his place.

* * *

Back in her room, Kel turned away from the mirror and all those painful memories, climbing wearily back into bed. Her disturbed sleep had left her unsettled but she knew that it was just stemmed from seeing Dom again. Kel breathed deeply in for five beats, held it for five and then breathed out for five as she lay on her back, like her Yamani teachers had taught her as a child. Immediately she felt calmer. It only took several more repetitions for Kel to feel suitably relaxed to turn over, get more comfortable and to drop into a restless dreamless sleep for the rest of the night.


	5. Chapter Four: Training

**Chapter Four: Training**

_Ok so I've had my first negative comment... and __**to be fair **__I think there's a couple of things I'd like to say back, if people don't mind me taking up a couple of lines... If the guy (it sounds like a guy to me but that might just be me and gender stereotypes) had let me I would have written back but no so here we all are... _

_Firstly- its set five years after Lady Knight... do we still think we're in a war period IF Kel has been let to go to a naming ceremony for a child and New Hope is now a thriving trading town? Also after all the havoc Kel reeked in Lady Knight by getting rid of the killing devices, I doubt the war would have lasted much longer. _

_Secondly, throughout the whole quartet we have seen Kel put herself before others – saving Lalasa, looking after Tobe, going after the children – and I felt that the fact that the boy wasn't one of the slavers but an innocent would have made Kel react in this way. After all; a Knight's job is to protect and serve – would Kel not take this literally even when bleeding to death? _

_Next, Kel's inner turmoil and hatred is stemmed from the fact that in retrospect she feels it is right that Dom was concerned about his own soldiers. Being concerned for the boy is exactly within Kel's personality and Dom's prioritising his men lies in their training. _

_Lastly, I never said this was the only reason she wasn't talking to him. You don't know whether it ends there, nor do you know the next bit of my plot... Just wanted to say that..._

_Anyway... Sorry if y'all feel a bit neglected for the last couple of days but I've just got my first exam done... not quite sure how well it went... but I suppose it definitely went better than if I'd uploaded this when I'd wanted to – when I'd finished it. Thank you for all the reviews – I still giggle about the Olive Whisperer's comment randomly... :-)_

_So anyway – finally, obviously I'm not Tamora Pierce. Next chapters ready – I'll post it if a couple of people could let me know whether they think I'm being really stupid (it just riled me) and whether they think I'm wrong or not... _

_X x x_

* * *

Upon waking from the dead sleep that had overcome her after the nightmare memory, Kel rose swiftly and dressed. Having gathered both her glaive and Griffin and left the Council Building, she was hurrying around the corner of the main street to the Training Ground when the sun finally burst completely over the horizon with defiant rays. There was not a soul in sight, not outside the shops or in front of the market. Kel was absolutely alone and allowed herself to take a moment to enjoy what the knowledge that there was peace in the land did to the view of dawn.

Many times in the past she had seen the sun rise from the wall's of Haven and then from New Hope but the presence of war had dirtied the view like a black stain on white linen. The sun had been just as magnificent as this before yet the idea that any moment, Scanrans might charge down the very same horizon that the sun was riding made Kel less appreciative of the sheer power of the sun, the way the light only lit segments of the land as it rose for the day, the glare of its radiance that made all who looked upon it squint for moments and have to shield their eyes. It felt like lifetimes ago when Kel had dreaded the rising of the sun for those moments when they were vulnerable and had felt every ounce of the weakness.

There was no-one in the Training Ground yet either.

Kel was as usual the first there, the first to train but that had always been the way. Wherever she went, her time at dawn working with her weapons was almost always solitary. Kel propped Griffin up on one of the benches surrounding the large ovular space, having brought it in case anyone else appeared who might allow her to truly use her sword skills. Taking her glaive in both hands and placing herself in the middle of the ring Kel positioned both her feet wide apart and sunk down onto a lower centre of gravity. With one hand she began to turn the glaive slowly around her shoulders and head to start the pattern dance, letting herself slip into the familiarity of the exercise. Within, her mind was whirling in time with the weapon recalling events of long ago.

It was the unexpected sight of Domitan that had done it.

For so long Kel had managed to push him from her thoughts as mission after mission had consumed her. Out of sight out of mind, she thought bitterly as she moved her feet for the first time and began to dart about with the weapon flashing in the sun. It rose higher on its mission to the centre of the sky as a tall, fiery Lady Knight danced easily with a fluidity of heavy use carrying a lethal looking weapon.

His visit had made her dwell on the past and so that would be the cause of the flashback last night. Kel knew that she should have been long passed any bitterness that still remained from that day but the awareness that had come with the pain of those events lived on to reopen the wound each time it attempted to health. The battering her pride had taken at the hands of that man, still old blows but not as old as that, made facing her demons from that day even harder.

She knew that it was a sergeant's first priority to find his wounded men yet the boy wasn't the enemy, wasn't a slaver. He was a victim – an innocent. He was a mere boy, a child crying out for his family. Lying there losing her lifeblood to the forest floor the small blooming part of her that had been awakened by Tobe's adoption hoped that Dom - whom she had realised lying prone there, she had loved – would have a care. Would show her that allowing that mothering instinct to blossom as a part of her wouldn't be wrong... for he had a paternal instinct. But he hadn't and possibly didn't. And though her love and mothering of Tobe had never ended, possibly as an attempt to compensate to Kesa wherever he was in the Realm of the Black God, it had never again attempting to join with her facade as a Knight. No, she definitely had not managed to swallow all her resentment for that day.

She hated herself that she realised that before that day, she would have probably done the same in Dom's position. She hoped that maybe she would have at least checked the boy's wounds, left someone with him until she could come back; at least that's what she had wished afterwards. They would never know.

If it had occurred again since they day Kel took some small comfort in the fact that she would not doubt her actions; she managed to balance her role as a mother and as a Knight now and knew the importance of each. It was knowledge borne from experience and regret.

Kel relived how she had felt about Dom all those years ago, as she moved faster and faster within the pattern; it hadn't been such a long time before then that she had had to let Cleon go - as relieved as she had been about it afterwards. Him and Neal had long become part of her extended family and any other feelings she had had for the pair had died away to be replaced by fresh, young, vibrant ones for her new position. She had been a green Knight – full of enthusiasm and happiness that Raoul had often laughed cynically at how it would soon disappear. Kel hadn't believed him. A deep contentment from the work she did each day filled Kel in the space left behind when her feelings for Cleon had withered away. There were stirrings of love there definitely; for her parents, for her friends, for Tobe. These feelings were strong and firm compared to the small fluttering she had felt for her year-mates.

Then another one of those twinges had been reborn from the ashes of the old ones. And just the same as the phoenixes and the fire-birds, these were filled with warmth and colour and joy. Being out of love was not so bad, Kel had noted back then. But to feel the first stirrings of infatuation was taking that first proper, full breath of air after hiking a mountain: refreshing, crisp and clear. It was the joy of feeling emotion pound through your veins chasing the blood round that made you feel alive and glad to be so.

The feelings had harboured within her for over eighteen months and then in the Royal Forest Mauling, as the men of the Own still referred to it, when she had been prone thinking she would never leave the greenery with a pulse Kel had finally admitted to herself that her feelings were in no way comparable to those she had had for Cleon or Neal. They were bigger, stronger and more important. She had felt love for the first time in her life for someone outside of her family and in a moment of wry cynicism before she had discovered Kesa she had thought of how typical it was that she would acknowledge this on her deathbed.

After, Kel had been sent spinning. Lying in her bed on the days after the mission as her wound healed, Kel had realised that she would need to put it behind her to be able to work with the Third Company again. She had decided that she would talk to Dom, though she had no idea what to say, and hope to understand his decision. She had a sneaky suspicion as to what he would say but she needed to hear him say it. Even without the way she felt about him, Dom was still a large part of her life. Kel needed to put the episode in the past; much as it refused to stay there. When she thought of her feelings after the Royal Forest Mauling she saw them as healing too. Perhaps naively. At the time it seemed to her, as the swipe across her belly scabbed and healed, the skin mending together leaving only the jagged line to remember the pain by, she imagined a wound similar in her heart mending likewise. Gradually but eventually it would be healed leaving only a scar in remembrance.

In the present, Kel whirled around the Training Ground moving swiftly through the combinations of attacks, blocks, kicks and defences breathing hard. Her head was firmly intent on reliving every single second of that era and as she moved, the scar across her abdomen prickled uneasily. That was what she would do today, Kel decided. She would fight to keep all the ancient history in the past; no more would she linger on all that had happened in that short year.

But what she would do was write to Lord Raoul. She needed to know if the situation Dom had spoken of was as bad as it sounded – she would help him if he asked her of course. Gods, she would have helped and immediately said yes if anyone but Dom had come to talk to her. Out of the corner of their eyes the first drift of stall holders opposite watched the woman practise. It was awe not fear though – they knew that their leader's husband would never let a hostile warrior into their Training Ground and sit quietly at the side observing.

As Kel made this decision within herself she twirled round suddenly. Letting her momentum carry her, she leapt into the air and kicked outwards thrusting the glaive forward at the same time. Before she knew what was happening a cry escaped from her lips; a triumphant battle cry – too much emotion to be a Yamani habitat, too little passion to be a Tortallan custom. It was a mix – a blend of the two. Story of my life, Kel thought.

With a thud she landed on both feet, panting but holding the final position for a moment then relaxing. There was a quiet clapping from the bench behind her and she turned curiously to the sound.

"I see you haven't gone dull with age," Saefas noted with a smile walking into the ring. Behind him were a group of teenagers, none of them under thirteen years old by Kel's guess. She bowed her head in thanks at the comment then moved towards him slowly, stretching out.

"I try to practise every morning still; it's good to have one routine when travelling from place to place. I'm hoping all these aren't yours Saefas – or you have been keeping secrets. Are you and Fanche adopting?"

"This Lady Knight this is my little training group for the morning. The In-betweeners – too old to try with children's wooden swords, too immature to be trusted with proper blades without their parents."

"And having too much fun to let the old coot send us up to learn with his wife and the adults," one of the boys muttered under his breath. All of the children sniggered.

"Alright enough you lot – I want three laps to wake up your bodies to match those quick minds. Can't have you all sarcasm and no swords can we?" Saefas ordered with a quick smile at the chorus of groans that followed. Soon the twenty adolescents were running around them. "It was nice of Sergeant Domitan to bring us a gift yesterday. Did he have anything nice to say?"

I'm keeping him in the past, Kel repeated to herself mentally. "Not really; he mostly talked about work. He brought a gift for Hope?"

"It was for Haive too really," Saefas replied nodding. "He brought a beautiful spelled stone that glows different colours. We put it in their room last night and they both went straight to sleep. Sir Neal told me that you and Dom, years ago, had... were..."

"Kelhen! Oh... Morning Saefas." A quiet boyish voice interrupted the man, much to Kel's relief. Keeping him in the past, she repeated grimly.

"Tobe, good morning my boy!" Kel's son strode into the circle through a gap in the running mass with a look of bemusement on his face. He stopped by Kel's side and looked for a moment searchingly into her face.

"Sleep alright did we?"

"Is it that obvious?" Kel rubbed a hand down the side of her face as Tobe shook his head. Saefas turned as the first of the teenagers began to finish their run to stand, panting, in a group beside him.

"Saefas, may I join your training this morning? I want to practice while I can – God knows when there'll be company enough to practice with a sword without the opponent going into a huff over something or other." Tobe smiled at her, teasing lightly and she pulled a face in response.

"Of course – I want you and the Lady Knight to put this lot through their paces." Saefas smiled then told the teens to pair off and practice for a little with swords. "Several of them have expressed an interest in leaving for the capital for extra training to their parents, who have told us. I want to know what you think of the training they've had."

"Well Kel probably has the knowledge to do that." Tobe replied frowning.

"Tobe; you've been by my side in various situations – I'm sure you can tell natural fighters by now." Kel told him absent-mindedly watching the fighting teens.

"Besides mostly it'll be arm position and defence – nothing fancy obviously." Saefas added. "Just watch for now then we'll pace them in a bit."

All three of them began to make rounds through the group of sparring children. It was interesting to see what Saefas and Fanche had been able to teach with limited resources and time. All of the children were competent in the basics of sword work and as Kel moved she found herself having to do very little. At times she advised on a better block for a move and when she did look up, she saw Tobe demonstrating a feint. Time passed quickly and sooner than Kel expected, Saefas was calling the group to gather on one side of the benches to watch couples go against one another. Tobe, Saefas and Kel remained standing in the circle surveying the teens; all of whom looked flushed but not badly so.

"Right to end, we're going to have a little competition. Us lot versus the Lady Knight and her son Tobe. Winner stays on, okay? Who wants to go first?" Saefas said clapping his hands.

Stunned silence filled the Training Ground.

"I feel I'm going to regret this but I think it's worth it – you look like you've forgotten those days of torture, I mean training, in sword drills my dear," a pleasant voice called from the entry to the Training Ground.

Neal walked in the circle, removing his jacket as he spoke. Kel grinned; she had been prepared to go easy on the boys and Saefas but Neal was just sport. He unsheathed his sword and threw the casing and his coat to Tobe who stood at the side shaking his head to himself. Kel removed her own jacket revealing small green vest and deeply tanned arms.

"You never learn do you Neal..." Kel laughed and then she lunged forward. "... I'll try not to hurt you!"

They were still sparring when Fanche brought the messenger to the Training Ground ten minutes later. Upon Saefas' request they had moved on to hand-to-hand combat but had slowed down slightly so he could explain why each move was best to the teenagers.

"Kel – can I talk to you for a moment?" Fanche called. The messenger stood next to her slightly out of breath and gulping from a water flask someone had given him. Kel ducked Neal's punch and turned to stride towards the leader of the camp.

"And I think I shall open the floor to you lot too and retire – Tobe will you take over?" Neal asked picking up his sword and jacket to sit on the bench. Tobe nodded and stood, walking towards the centre of the circle, rolling up his sleeves. Before Saefas could even ask for volunteers the tallest boy of the group stood and made his way through his friends.

"I'll go – I think I could take the son of a Knight. You may be able to talk about moving a sword but have you ever done it – has the Lady Knight ever let you fight for yourself?"

Kel looked up sharply but turned with a heavy sigh to Fanche when Tobe shook his head at her slightly. He had a small smile on his face and a deadly look in his eyes which Kel had seen before in their occasional arguments. "What can I do for you mistress Fanche?"

"This gentleman has a letter for you from Corus; I do hope you don't have to leave yet – I wanted to have a little chat..." Fanche nodded to the messenger and he stepped forward.

"Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan – I have a letter for you from the Palace." Having reached within his leather satchel he withdrew a rolled letter wrapped in a royal red ribbon of the Palace.

"Thank-you; are you able to wait for a letter for Lord Raoul Commander of the Own?"

"Of course Lady." The messenger passed the letter to here and then looked at Fanche. "Mistress is there somewhere I could tend to my horse and myself?"

Fanche led the messenger away clucking like the mother hen she seemed to have become. Kel shook her head and made her way to one of the benches near the teenagers but a little way away for privacy. She was dimly aware of the sounds of staffs clashing but she was too curious about the letter to realise that it was Tobe who was fighting. Unfurling the letter quickly, Kel read what it said unaware that Neal had come to sit next to her.

**Dear Lady Knight, **

**It is with some regret that I ask you to cut your visit to New Hope short and return to the capital. I will not write down on paper the details but I need you to attend a briefing in the Palace before returning south to attend a problem for me. I apologise again for cutting your well-earned break short but Tortall needs you.**

**Signed: King Jonathon of Tortall**

"You needed to go back to work already?" Neal asked quietly making Kel jump. He was sitting close enough to read over her shoulder and was watching her face carefully.

"Yes. It seems there's a pressing matter down south. What about you – where are you these days?"

"Mostly with Father touring infirmaries stocking up medicines and teaching. He's given me a month off to be with Yuki."

"How far along is she? I know she's pregnant – I can see it in your eyes. And you didn't tell me sooner! I'm hurt!" Kel put her arms round her best friend whose face was filled with glowing joy. "Congratulations."

"I wanted to tell you in person – she's about two months in so we haven't known long ourselves! And I wanted talk to you really – it's about Dom, Kel." Neal started but she cut him off.

"I can't talk now Neal – I need to write a reply to this and a letter to Raoul. I'll talk to you later." Kel stood quickly and left the circle. She was just walking around the outside to the entrance when the fact that Tobe was the one fighting suddenly occurred to her. Reaching the arch out that led out onto the square she turned and watched quietly for a moment.

They were using the wooden staffs that Saefas had given to this group rather like the glaive Kel had had made especially for Tobe. The boy was taller and bigger than her son but was still managing to lose. Tobe tilted his staff up, as she watched, and blocked the boy's oncoming blow then forced his staff off to the side. The boy stumbled with it and moved to the side. He and Tobe circled each other slightly for a moment and then Tobe struck. He feinted a blow to the left and then pulled the staff to the right using its momentum to pull them both closer to the boy. Where the boy had moved his weapon to the left now to defend himself, Tobe had now pushed him on the right side and he fell to the ground. Standing over the boy Tobe wheeled the staff round and brought it down suddenly to rest inches above his gasping chest. The rest of the group clapped then Saefas broke them up for the end of the session, but as if he knew she was watching Tobe turned and looked at her.

In that moment Kel remembered everything she had ever told him about what had happened at page training – all the times she had had to prove herself, all the fights, all the bullies. She smiled at him and he grinned in response, relaxing his pose to let the boy up. Kel's heart swelled with love for this not-so-little boy who was now her son; and she was honoured to be able to call him that. She watched him walk over to her and realised that he was good – very good – at fighting. He didn't seem to have even broken a sweat.

"I was waiting for you to tell me off for fighting with the other children, Kelhen." Tobe teased when he reached her side. He took the scroll from her hand and read it through nodding to himself. When he looked up again he smiled brightly at her but Kel could see the faint seeds of disappointment in his eyes.

"I will never tell you off for defending yourself or standing up to bullies Tobe. It's something that everyone should do – then we'd have none to deal with." Kel started to walk out of the archway, Tobe at her side with his arm loosely round her waist. "You can stay here you know if you want. I trust you. You don't have to come back to Corus with me."

He stopped and looked at her seriously. "_I_ don't trust _you_ to look after yourself properly. Remember, I know how you get."

Kel laughed and carried on walking. "Charming. Not allowed out of the sights of my son. I'm offended!"

"You were supposed to be!" Tobe said laughing, as they entered the council building to pack their things and write Kel's letters.

_

* * *

_

Wow long chapter. Yea – not my favourite one so far but it's leading up to something so it was kind of necessary. :-D

_Wow... five chapters already... and over 1000 hits! Thanks guys – you're amazing inspiration. :-) _

_Sorry I haven't updated for a while but I have a week off now between exams so I'm hoping to jam in a couple of installations as well as revision. The end of exams is in sight however! After the 8th June I'm hoping to update between every three-five days... Please review – I know there are a lot of you who aren't and I understand that you're just here to read but your advice/criticism/suggestions would be greatly appreciated... _

_X x x_


	6. Chapter Five: Interrogations

**Chapter Five: Interrogations**

"Tobe, are you sure you want to come; we only just got here after all." Lady Keladry of Mindelan asked for the umpteenth time as she hastily packed her tunics away into a travelling bag.

"I'm not going to answer you any different from the other million times you asked me Kelhen." Her son Tobe told her from his place where he was leaning against the doorframe.

He had already packed his bags in the two hours since he'd parted with his mother in this corridor. He hadn't really emptied the packs he had made up four days ago in Corus, knowing his mother (and the King too well) to think that they would be in one place for very long. The last five years, although being the best of his life, had been one mission after another. Sure the war had finished, but the Immortals who went against the monarchy of Tortall didn't seem to care that they were attacking in peacetime.

"You know I probably won't make it all the way to Corus either – as soon as they hear word that I'm on my way back, the King will probably send a detail out to meet me."

"Yes I know mother – I have been on a few missions with you. Do we honestly have to do this everytime you get summoned somewhere, because it's getting a little monotonous..."

"Cheeky!" Kel huffed, pretending to be outraged. "After everything I've done for you!"

"Oh you know you love it." Tobe replied grinning.

"Hmm, yes...Having to turf you out of messes and scraps back at the Palace as well as picking up your dirty socks – I do so adore it all darling!" Tobe just rolled his eyes at her.

"If it's ok though, I won't come all the way to the coast with you. I'll probably ride back with you as far as I can then head to Corus when you ride off into the sun-set to set the kingdom to rights. After all, I'm a big boy now – not long till I start finding my own sun-sets to ride off into."

"What does that mean?" Kel asked looking back over her shoulder at him. "I take it we're talking about your future here right?"

"Maybe..." Tobe answered stubbornly raising his head slightly in defiance. "Perhaps now isn't the best time to discuss it – you should be thinking about work."

Kel turned round and put her hands on her hips, staring down her son. He grimaced at her expression and went back to leaning against the wall by the door.

"We are going to talk about your future Tobe. Why not now? We are both free, for the moment, so let's take the opportunity to discuss this for a short time." She returned to her bags. "So...we're talking about your future here right?"

Tobe looked uncomfortable for a moment as he fidgeted by the door.

"Well I've spoken to my teachers about what they think my options are and I agree with some of the recommendations but not all. I'm saving up some funds too so I can do further tuition next year but I..."

"Hang on!" Kel said straightening up. "You're not paying for anything – I am!"

"Why though?" Tobe said quietly looking down. "I'm not your real son Kelhen – I don't expect anything of you, you've done so much for me already."

"Tobe Mindelan. You took my surname didn't you, in the adoption? You live with me in the Palace don't you? You are my son Tobe and I AM going to pay for you to do whatever you want to do next year. That is, unless you'd rather think of yourself as not my son..."

Admitting this fear at Tobe's words, and the hurt it had caused her, was the only admission Kel allowed herself; she kept her head down and her eyes hard in case he tried to study her expression. Why did he not want to allow her to fund him in his future? Insecurity filled Kel's head while she pondered Tobe's words with a shocked disbelief, as it often did with matters of motherhood. She often felt like she had let the boy down by being away so much.

"Don't be silly. It's not that at all. I'm proud to call you my mother and to carry your name. You know that," Tobe cleared his throat which was suddenly gruff. "I love you Kel..."

Kel turned and smiled warmly at her son, all her love and pride for him clear in her eyes. Then she turned to a topic they were both more comfortable with vocalising out loud and picked up another tunic to fold.

"Well then what is it you want to do? It's ok if you don't know yet but maybe just a little clue or hint would be good so I can start making provisions..."

"Kel, I don't think you'll want to fund my particular choice."

"Spit it out Tobe – where have you decided you want to go?"

Tobe was silent for a moment and shuffled uncomfortably under her gaze. After a moment, Kel sighed and looked back to her packing hoping he would open up to her. She hadn't been lying when she called him her son – just because she didn't physically produce him didn't mean she didn't love him like her own flesh and blood, like her own child. Kel wanted to support him in whatever he wanted to do.

"I want to join the Own Kel. I want to do good in the world just like I've seen you do..." Kel looked up again sharply, managing to only wince slightly at his words.

"Are you certain Tobe; are you absolutely sure? I thought you enjoyed your lessons? Or if you don't want to be an academic, a Knight maybe?"

Tobe sighed and shrugged away from the door frame. He walked over to where she stood surrounded by chaos and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes. He smiled as he searched them as if looking for some sort of sign hidden below the surface.

"I do enjoy my tuition but I think the work of the Own is so worthwhile and much better worthy of my efforts and time. Don't you think the same? You work with the Own often yourself, not as much as you used to these days, but don't you remember how much they help the people in the aftermath of disaster? I want to be a part of that."

"I agree that the Own are a godsend at time Tobe and their work is a great help to the citizens of Tortall. Have you not considered becoming a Knight?" Kel urged again.

"Kel, we both know that I'm not as rounded as one needs to be to become a Knight. Plus, I don't think either of us thinks it's what I would be suited to – you know what makes a good page, squire and Knight after all."

Kel paused for a moment to choose her wording. Tobe was right – she didn't think he had all the necessary skills to become a knight but that was something they could work on next year. She wouldn't give up on that idea just yet, as Tobe seemed to have done.

"How about you talk to your tutors back in the Palace when we get back and have a little longer to think? If you still feel that a career in the Own is what you want then we'll change your lesson combination until you reach eligible age ok?"

Tobe nodded and hugged her briefly. Kel patted his cheek then turned back to her three-quarter full bag and sighed again. If her boy was determined do to good for Tortall as a part of the Own, then who was she to stop him? She would be proud of him and knew within her heart that without a doubt he would excel and advance very well within their ranks.

"Go and sort the horses out for your old mother then. We'll have another talk when I get back in Tortall, I promise."

* * *

"Keladry, we ARE going to have a talk – so you can just stop avoiding me." Fanche came round the corner calling as she caught sight of Kel taking bags down to Tobe and the horses. Saefas was at her side looking grim. "Get in your room now."

Kel reluctantly turned and strode towards her lodgings hoping to get this particular chat over with as quickly as possible. However, what she saw waiting for her in the large bedroom made her stop in her tracks. Neal and Yuki were sat side by side on the window seat obviously waiting for her too. Seemingly having moved with grace and silence that Neal could only have got from watching Yuki, they had managed to sneak up from behind and enter in the mere moments between when Kel had left and when she had been corner on the landing. When her best friend saw her he stood up.

"Kel, we heard you were leaving so we wanted to come see you. There are a couple of things we wanted to ask..."

Knowing there was no way she was going to avoid this, Kel resigned herself to the conversation and sat on her bed heavily. Fanche and Saefas joined her in the room and seemed unsurprised to see the other couple there too.

"Did the four of you plan this?" Kel asked curiously watching her year-mate for the telltale signs that he had been caught out. This time he looked her directly in the eyes as he spoke. Neal smiled lightly at the annoyed and a little scared look, on his best friend's face.

"Yes; we don't have dissimilar intentions. What's the point of all of us trying to catch you separately when together it would be so much easier?"

Kel opened her mouth to answer him but then thought better of it. There was no point starting an argument she was unlikely to win, especially when the next conversation they treated her to wasn't going to be exactly one of the best moments of her life. Fanche came and sat next to her, patting her hand in a grandmotherly gesture that put Kel's nerves a little bit more at ease.

"We're only concerned for you dear – we don't want to pry but we want to help you if we can."

"Kel how long have I known you?" Yuki asked nodding at Fanche's words. "We know when there's something wrong and the fleeting times we have seen you in the last months, no – the last year, there seems to less of you. Not physically but emotionally."

"You've shrunk Kel – you don't laugh or smile as much, you don't ever seem at ease and you don't offer conversation unless spoken to directly." Neal added taking over from his wife smoothly when she paused.

"We're worried, love that's all. How can the rest of us cope if our dear Lady Knight has been so affected in this way – and over who knows what? My mind is coming up with so many ideas, it frightens me." Fanche smiled weakly at her.

"How can you say that – we've hardly spent any time together in the last year? It's been hard on everyone; the time since the end of the Scanran war. I love you all dearly but I don't think you could stand there and say there is anything wrong with me."

Kel stood as she spoke making for the door but a sharp look from Fanche sent Saefas to stand before it, in her way. She stopped in the centre of the room and looked at each of her dearly loved friends, who were unwillingly hurting her so by bringing up the past. Its searing sharp edges were dragging on her insides as they pulled it up out of her; this black mass that she had been carrying around for so long now.

"Keladry," Saefas was the one who eventually spoke quietly. He looked up at her, eyes dark and solemn seeing straight through her mask. "You have been here barely a day and I can already say I've seen less of the Lady Knight I served five years ago than I could ever think would exist alone. You were broken – I can see that, and you've put yourself back to get a little; the bare basics are there but not all."

"Share the load Kel; maybe we can help you to get back to how you used to be – full of life, care-free, enthusiastic about your work." Kel looked up as Neal finished and knew he was right. Deep down she supposed that he, and all of her friends, would guess when they saw her that something was wrong.

And so, looking at the floor, she retold the story from the Royal Forest – the one that made up her recurrent nightmare. She didn't know how much everyone had heard from other sources, and so she told them everything: all that had happened, all that had been said, all that she had thought. She told them about how she refused to see Dom as she healed, about how as soon as she was strong enough she had gone to find him.

She told them how it had felt to see Dom round the corner of a courtyard in the palace, to be ready and eager to talk to him and to put the past to rest, then suddenly to have the painful stare of a young dying child fill her vision and his desperate calls fill her ears.

She recalled for them how ill she had felt when Dom had stood in that courtyard laughing and smiling with his men, and then with Tobe as she watched. The bile she had felt rise in her throat, the anger at Dom and Tobe – Tobe! Her own son! – And how, cowardly she had fled back to her room.

She admitted how she had packed and fled, literally running from Dom, to the coast – into another mission.

With a sigh Kel finished telling her best friends about how Kesa's death haunted her dreams still usually about one night a week. She spoke of how it had her waking up screaming for him, sweaty and crying. She told them about how she usually hugged Tobe desperately if he was near to remove Dom's dead stare from her mind, or if not sat up for the rest of the night for dawn's light to chase away the dream.

"Gods Kel," Fanche started shaking her head. "Why did you not tell us? That's awful – abominable even."

"I'm not surprised you haven't spoken to him, Kel. To just leave the boy behind like that? It IS unforgivable." Yuki said vehemently looking at her fiercely but with compassion.

"No, my lady, it is not," Saefas spoke quietly again.

"No," Neal said with a sigh looking at Kel. "It isn't."

"No." Kel agreed.

"That isn't it is it?" Neal asked, making Fanche and Yuki look up sharply. Both were appalled that the men didn't find the death of a child enough for her to hate Dom. When Kel continued to speak nodding her head bleakly to Neal they were shocked into silence that Kel agreed with them.

"No. What happened in the Royal Forest was awful but in our line of work, it's not avoidable. Innocent's get killed. In the world every single day hundreds of children must die. It was hard but I had to get over it. It's something that you have to get used to as a Knight – and since then I think I have done. Kesa's death has affected me, and I openly admit it. As you said Saefas it broke me, and when I did eventually put myself back together I found that I'd lost and discarded any remaining notions that held naivety over the work I did. In one way I made myself better – as a Knight – I was more clinical and more focused. Even as a mother, it made me more thankful for the time I got to spend with Tobe and for the love I have for him. I did live through it, but many traces of the young Kel was gone – lost to the death of a child. And on that realisation, I didn't blame Dom for that anymore."

"And why not?" Fanche demanded. "It is his fault the boy died."

Kel couldn't say it. She didn't want them to think any less of her. If the thought sickened her so, they would definitely not understand.

"It's because you cannot say you wouldn't have done the same in his place." Saefas said for her quietly. Fanche looked at him sharply.

"That can't be right. Kel, tell me you don't think that! You know you would have done something, anything, more than he did."

Kel laughed bitterly. In her head the sound echoed hollowly around the spaces made in her head by sharing with her friends. The remainder of the stubborn past that both refused to come out, and she refused to remove, absorbed the sound. The last couple of years had indeed been hard; Kel had had to rid herself of the simple view of the world as black and white that she had carried for the first years of her adult life. In its place sat a confusing tapestry of greys. There were fuzzy sections where the colour was indeterminable and places where the two tones ran together over the broken border.

"I do think that Fanche, and it sickens me. I'll never know whether I would have helped Kesa if Dom had been lying there bleeding to death instead of me." Kel looked into Neal's face as she continued. "That's why I'm not the same – too many doubts run through my head for me to truly enjoy and take pride in my work as simply and as cleanly as I used to. Am I doing good or am I missing people? Have I caused pain and misery through what I do? Most probably. The fact that I would probably have left that tiny child, almost the same age as my own son, to die makes me feel cold..."

"It didn't end did it?" Yuki guessed; her eyes scrunched in the pain she imagined her friend had gone through alone.

"He came to find you!" Fanche exploded. Saefas looked over at her and made a calming gesture with his hands. He then turned back and his expression was so full of unconditional sympathy for her that Kel felt tearful.

Kel inclined her head making Neal mutter to himself shaking his own. "That boy really doesn't know when to quit..."

"I was on my way back from the coastal mission with Tobe when he found us. We were going to Mindelan for a few days to rest – I was tired...Really tired...Of everything. I was just so sick of being on the road all of a sudden; I wanted to sleep in and to sit by a fire and to properly wash all the dust out of my hair. I ached, all over. We were camped and sitting round the fire when he just rode up and joined us. It felt so right – despite everything – the three of us; talking and laughing together in the darkness. And it wasn't awkward. Tobe knows as much as I do on everything that happened, so me and Dom could talk. We really did talk about it and it made me sure that I probably would have ended up making the same choices as he did. Dom told me everything that had happened on that night to make him act that way and I realised that I couldn't blame Dom for the decisions he had made. I knew that when I'd put myself back together, despite the bitterness I felt towards him afterwards, I'd kept my love for Dom. And it was love; say what you like but I did love Domitan of Masbolle."

"I don't understand..." Fanche started but Neal shushed her into silence. Kel stared into the mirror on the dressing table not really seeing it or herself.

"I woke up the next morning in my tent and felt less tired somehow. I was a little more eager to get back to the Palace and to see Raoul and the King – to find somewhere to go and try to do good. Realising that in truth Kesa probably would have died if I had been in charge made me feel sick with myself and eager to show that dear little boy from wherever he was watching, that I had learnt from his death. I wanted to help the kingdom again suddenly full of energy. Over the months Dom convinced me that I was helping, that I was doing good. Now I'm not so sure; I think I was too eager to believe him – to think that I had shown Kesa that his death hadn't been in vain. It was weighing me down and in retrospect I see I was too eager to shift it. Safe to say, I did go straight back to the capital with him and, to cut a long story short, we started seeing each other. I know Neal heard the rumours about that..."

"That's what we were going to ask you about..." It was Neal this time that was shushed, not only by Fanche but by his wife too.

All the noise brought Kel back into the room. She looked up and her eyes caught Neal's. For the first time in the whole trip Neal saw Kel's strict Yamani mask completely stripped away, emotion clear for everyone to view. Hurt, pain and desperation shone bright and fierce until Kel brought herself back under control.

"It ended after about six months, that's all you really need to know. He walked away and I hadn't even noticed there was a problem. I couldn't believe it; it hurt so much not just the loneliness, but the embarrassment and desperation too. He left me broken again but it was different this time. Emotionally I felt empty when he was gone, I had no huge wound to deal with this time but it felt like I should have had. Again I began to question myself, as a person, as a Knight, as a mother, as a woman... Dom's broke me twice-over, and believe me, I've felt both blows twice-over again. Dom came yesterday to ask me on a mission to save some of the Own and I said no..."

"I didn't buy that he came just to bring Haive and Hope a present did I darling?" Saefas said interrupting triumphantly. Everyone in the room besides Kel shushed him; the Lady Knight herself was staring out of the window, reliving the painful pictures of the past in her head.

"I had to say no; professionally it was a ridiculous idea, even I could see that. Domitan is rushing off without hearing what the Own's response to the First's disappearance is. Having accepted this I realised I couldn't have done it even if it was a proper, well-thought out mission. And last night I hated myself when I realised I would have said no for purely selfish reasons. I don't think I could put myself back together again at all if he did it a third time. After he left me, having ended everything that was beginning to make the world seem right again I picked myself up – I had to for Tobe and for Tortall. That time I think I lost a little trust, a little self-esteem, maybe a little of who I am outside the title. When he stood in front of me and looked at me pleadingly I couldn't do it. All I could see was the day he told me that he didn't think we should see each other again and I pleaded with him to tell me what was wrong. All I could remember was how ashamed and angry I had felt at myself for pleading with him. I could see Kesa's eyes faintly too and hear his pleading voice but I'm still trying not to hold that against him. I just couldn't do it; I'm not a masochist – twice through that was enough."

"If it's any consolation I'm sorry – on behalf of our family. I can't stand that he's hurt you this much; after everything you have done for me, and for him!" Neal stepped towards Kel but she stood and moved away raising her hands. The other three in the room were watching her with sympathetic expressions that made her raise her head in defiance.

"It's okay! I've accepted it – that's just part of who I am now. When we were studying Neal, when I was younger, I never even thought for a second that life would affect me as I bent it to my will. But now I know and perhaps it has jaded me a little bit, but what does it matter? I'm better now and I'm just getting on with it. He doesn't want me and I know that now; I may not be quite as I once was but I think it might take a while longer for that to happen. Now I have to go help Tobe tack up the horses!"

As Kel dashed from the room none of her interrogators moved to stop her. Saefas had subconsciously moved from the door as he had listened to her story, getting closer to where the Lady Knight had been. He felt very paternal towards her and it cut him up to hear her talk about being miserable and haunted as if it was the normal way to live life. Neal went to hug his dear wife who was silently crying for their friend.

"I just pray you eventually fully recover Kel." Fanche muttered as the door shut with a thud from Kel's escape. Neal looked around his wife at the Town Leaders who sat shell-shocked on the bed.

"If she doesn't, I'll kill him," Neal replied quietly, his voice grim and his eyes deadly.


	7. Chapter Six: The Next Generation

**Chapter Six: The Next Generation**

Kel and Tobe had left New Hope early the next morning due to the eagerness with which the sun had approached the horizon the night before. Once again in the saddle, Kel realised that her stay at the town had only just managed to equate to forty-eight hours when she had planned to stay a week. When she revealed her musings to Tobe besides her, he sighed and shook his head.

"What can I say – we live in the saddle. We inhabit weird times Kelhen; there's no outright war but there's still battles being fought..."

Most of the journey was spent in a silence that was far from uncomfortable. Despite being summer the heat they felt on their backs was warming and pleasant rather than the fierce burning that was expected. The sounds of the passing countryside filled their ears, providing a stark contrast to the truth that Kel knew rang in Tobe's words. Everywhere was lush and green; fields were filled with bounteous harvests, bushes blossomed along the roads and trees hung heavy with the loads of fruit and foliage they boasted. Everything seemed so peaceful, so content, so happy – but Kel knew the truth that lay under the surface.

In each village they passed she could see for herself the anxious faces of the people as they stood in small groups trading whispers of gossip. Some Kel could imagine she had heard herself but there would be new ones since she had left the capital for the naming ceremony. Although most sounded far-fetched, Kel knew that in all seriousness very few of them could be discounted as wrong. Something new had come to Tortall – whether it was an Immortal through from the Divine Realm – many were unsure. Kel had heard of nothing like it, yet there was so little specific information to go on, that it was hard to be completely certain. Plus there had been few encounters with far too fewer survivors, for the Knights and the soldiers of the realm to confidently warn the people of the new threat.

Added to that was what could be classed as the 'norm' for a Knight; natural-disasters to clear up after, raiders to capture, disease to fight. Kel had realised in her five years that the world was a hard place and this realisation had got her through the rest - it had made her more determined to help in some ways. The world hadn't become a calm place when the Scanrans had downed weapons, so how could she stop? Why indeed, would she want to? That was what she repeated over and over in her head sometimes, when things got too much. When there were just too many rumours and far too few known facts. When a storm left children orphaned in a rural village with nothing left to call their own. When, through their own greed, a raider's party caused starvation in an entire town.

Everything was peaceful enough that Kel could mull through these thoughts entirely at her own ease for most of the journey. That was until at dusk, they reached the town that had sprung up around the crossing point of the King's Road running centrally north/south with the one that ran through the Royal Forest, over the hills and into Corus in one direction and in the other ran to the Western Border: Road's Rest.

At this junction there was not one Royal Inn to serve travellers but two with shops bordering their sides. Houses stood packed behind the main row of businesses; back from the road with small alleys connecting them. There were people everywhere – travellers both pausing to rest for the night and not, merchants selling wares out of the back of wagons, townspeople bustling about and of course the usual herds of charging, playing children.

But also at this junction Kel and Tobe found the three knights waiting for them.

They were sprawled on the scrub patch of grassland before the stables of the Inns, their horses around them grazing. Even from a distance Kel could tell they were new knights from the way they sat alert and eager waiting to jump into battle like over-excited puppies. Kel chuckled darkly at her cynicism as these thoughts registered.

As they rode closer Kel inspected them. All three were young men in their mid-twenties; tall, thin and lanky. The one on the right had his eyes closed, taking in the sunshine while he could. His hair was the colour of burnt sugar – not quite blonde, not quite brown. It fell to his shoulders in slight waves but was tucked behind his ears to keep it out of his face. All three had deeply tanned skin that told of Tortallans who had spent a length of time by the coast recently.

The one sitting in the middle was watching her approach as the one on his left whispered urgently to him. It was clear they were waiting for her when he nudged the one on the right out of his slumberous state. The middleman had very short blonde hair and piercing green eyes that were disconcerting in the way that they never left her.

The last one – the boy on the left – had black hair to around his ears, completing the set. His eyes were green too but a deep green mixed with hazel. They were as responsive as the middleman's, but in a completely different way; the colour seemed to swirl as emotion passed through them rather than the emotion running on top of his irises.

"Bet you stabling duty for a week that the one on the left is in charge." Kel whispered to Tobe, making him grin.

"No way," he replied. "It's definitely the one in the middle. You're on Kelhen – get ready to lose!"

Kel smiled lightly, glancing at him and then they were sitting before the three Knights. All three men stood and bowed slightly as young nobles do to women. Kel took this as a bad omen from the beginning – they should treat her like a fellow knight, not as a woman. The one on the right stepped forward to speak.

* * *

"Greetings Lady Knight Keladry, we are here to escort you to the border."

Having stabled their horses and purchased adjoining rooms for the night, Kel and Tobe met the three Knights in a private dining room for supper. The meal was satisfactory and over quickly, the maid leaving wine and sweets upon the table for them to help themselves to. Kel leant back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest waiting to see who would talk first, who would win the bet.

The knights had introduced themselves as Iiyan of Mountain's End (the middleman,) Francis of Dorbe (the other green-eyed boy) and Turnall of Seer's Bridge (the sunbather.) All three had been eager to say how much they admired her work and how they had gone through Page School hearing stories of her and her friends. For the first time in a while these stammered compliments had made Kel blush as the three sets of staring eyes were joined by atleast a dozen other pairs overhearing them. Now though she was tired, saddle-sore and just wanted to get the briefing over so that she might get to bed.

Francis poured wine silently for a moment as the other two watched and Kel knew she had won the bet. When he began to talk she flashed Tobe a triumphant but small smile.

"I can't tell you much, only what we've been told ourselves. There have been more of those incidents..." it was obvious he was referring to the ones the villagers had been discussing, "... in the same area near the coast, in the last couple of weeks and the King has sent a force down there to take a look. We were told to meet you and report there as soon as possible when any new information would be shared."

"We were given our orders three days ago at the same time as the rest of the men who have been sent, so they will have already been there for a day at least. We need to get there and find out what the preliminary scouts have found." Iiyan added when Francis took a drink. Turnall nodded.

"It will only take us less than a day's ride to get there, so we can be up to date by nightfall tomorrow." Francis smiled lightly.

"Beg pardon my Lady," Turnall asked looking a little nervous. "But will the lad be coming with you?"

"That depends on what the lad wants to do?" Kel turned to look at Tobe curiously herself. He looked serious for a moment as he thought, seeming older than his age and then he smiled looking up.

"I'm going to back to Corus – someone has to check on Peachblossom and Jump. It's okay though, I'm perfectly capable of riding of doing less than a day's ride on my own..."

"Good." Francis interrupted smoothly. "Then we can leave in the morning for the coast. Shall we say meet for breakfast an hour after dawn Lady Knight?"

"No." Kel replied easily, stretching her tired muscles slowly. She settled again leaning forward on the table.

"No?" Turnall asked, frowning. He shared a look of confusion with Iiyan then glanced briefly with annoyance at Tobe; though Kel was sure he didn't see it, she did.

"No." Kel agreed. "Firstly gentlemen, if we're going to work together its Kel – not Lady Knight or Keladry. Second, if you are determined to leave for the coast tomorrow morning then I will not be joining you but I will catch you up shortly."

"We're not supposed to arrive without you," Iiyan stated wearily.

"Well you can stay here and I'll pick you up on the way past – I can pay for your rooms."

"That won't be necessary Lady – Kel," Francis hurried to correct himself as he spoke, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry my mamma brought me up with manners..."

"The boy says he will ride alone Lady, surely you will allow him to stretch his wings a bit?" Turnall asked ludicrously.

"Yes Kelhen," Tobe said sarcastically. "I'm perfectly able..."

"I know you're able Tobe," Kel answered soothingly. "It's more for my peace of mind; I won't be able to work properly if I'm worrying about whether you arrived safely, as irrational as that worry is."

"Fine...If only so I hear the end of it!" Tobe said resigned to his fate. "I'm going to bed Kelhen – don't talk shop for much longer..."

As the three Knights and Kel muttered replies, Tobe left the room quietly. With the boy gone the atmosphere was a little awkward and the silence stifling.

"Kelhen?" Iiyan asked after a moment with a genuine smile on his face. Kel groaned.

"Just a stupid, annoying, little nickname he seems to have picked up since I adopted him."

"And one that seems to be a tad well-deserved!" Turnall joked, yelping as Francis smacked him lightly over the back of the head.

"Manners!" Francis reminded and Kel laughed.

"I don't think I'm that bad...Looks like I might have competition though!" The four laughed together lightly and some of the unease evaporated.

They traded stories and details for a while, allowing Kel to learn that the three had been year-mates at page school three years ago. Kel told them of adopting Tobe, of her year-mates and of their various adventures – the ones they hadn't already heard about. After that evening she knew that the awkwardness have completely gone and that was the way she liked it – if she was going to work with someone she felt better if they weren't a complete stranger. After a while however they came back to the subject at hand.

"So we ride with you then – back to Corus?" Turnall asked; not only from clarification from Kel but from the other two Knights as well.

"Yes," Francis and Iiyan replied together causing Kel to nod after a moment. The three smiled and made plans to meet in the morning for breakfast and to saddle their mounts. Finally an hour after Tobe had left, Kel rose - eager to get to her bed. Having bid her boys as she'd come to think of them, goodnight she walked to the doorway then turned back with a second thought, looking each one in the eye for a moment.

"It's my duty to make sure he's safe just as much as protecting Tortall is my duty. Not just because he's my son – I would do it for any child. It's not safe for anyone to travel alone these days..." She stopped, shook her head slightly and left leaving the three Knights slightly in awe.

"What a handful!" Turnall said slightly sourly but with a rueful smile.

"What a fire cracker!" Iiyan agreed shaking his head slightly.

"What a woman!" Francis breathed still a little in awe of the Lady Knight who had finally put a face to the name he had heard so much.


	8. Chapter Seven: A Morning's Ride

**Chapter Seven: A Morning's Ride**

_Hey again guys are we all okay this week? _

_I was wondering whether anyone was looking for a beta reader because I'd really like to get into that side of the site. Drop me a line over the reviews or the message service if anyone needs any help – I'm happy to help with any piece! :-)_

_Drop us a line guys it only takes a sec – I appreciate it so much and try to write back if it's constructive!_

_As per usual I'm no Tamora Pierce, as much as I do so wish that people like Dom... and Neal... and Numair... had been my creation. Hehehe. *Sighs.*_

_X x x_

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Bright and early the next morning Kel and Tobe were nearly finished saddling up their horses when their three young escorts finally arrived bleary eyed and yawning. When they greeted them, Iiyan and Turnall merely grunted in response whilst Francis actually turned to grace them with a worded reply.

"Good morning Lady and how are we this morning?"

"It's Kel and I'm as good as mornings can allow," Kel grumbled causing all of her companions to chuckle.

"A woman after my own heart..." Iiyan muttered but before either she or Tobe could answer Francis was speaking again.

"Mornings are the best part of the day La-Kel, as much as it _is_ a hardship getting up."

"You can say that again..." Turnall muttered and Kel grinned. Clearly there were some things that she and her companions would agree over.

"It is indeed a hardship," Kel replied pretending to be serious. Francis raised his eyebrows at her, trying to hide his smile unsuccessfully. "But one every Knight must bear when there is work to be done."

"Indeed." Iiyan answered bowing his head slightly in her direction. The other two Knights muttered in agreement with her words and all returned to readying their mounts in contemplative silence.

Finally everyone's horses were prepared for the journey and Francis, turning to Kel, spoke again as he reorganised his saddle bags on the stable floor.

"We shall try and get to Corus by early afternoon, let you collect your things and then ride through the night to be at the front by late tonight." Kel nodded and boosted Tobe into his saddle.

She knew that the Knights would feel better if they had travelled the entire distance today.

"Now did we all eat this morning?" Kel asked looking first pointedly at Tobe and then at the other three boys. All looked guilty. Quiet murmurs of excuses and denials filled the air as she laughed.

"How did you manage it this early? I only just survived rising, washing and dressing at this unearthly hour." Turnall asked.

"It's called being organised sir, obviously something you Knights need to practise; my year-mates were just like that." Rising into her saddle Kel turned and pointed to a bundle sitting beside their horses. "Check that bag there – it should contain breakfast rolls..."

The three men whooped in joy and fell on the satchel as one body, pulling open the cloth and grabbing up everything they could. Kel sighed and turned back to Tobe nudging her horse forward. From the riding satchel at her side she pulled out a smaller package and passed it to her son.

"And for you – I knew you'd never get close with my boys there too."

"Your boys?" Tobe and Francis said together with matching, disbelieving expressions.

"Well I'm going to be working with you aren't I? And you're just as much one of my boys as any of my year-mates; you can look after me and I can watch out for you."

Turnall looked up with a mixture of emotions playing across his face: surprise, annoyance, jealousy, envy and a little bit of happiness.

"Lady Kel?" He asked slowly walking over to the side of his horse having put his share of the food in his bag. He took up one of her hands where it lay by her side and clutched it tightly to his chest. His eyes were slightly reverent and pleading. "Will you adopt me too?"

The entire party laughed including Turnall as Kel pulled her hand from his grasp and smacked him lightly on the head while she could reach. Though she was tall, they were all bigger than she.

"I suppose, just on a temporary basis mind. I don't think I could cope with all of you long-term."

Swinging himself easily up into the saddle of his horse Francis turned to her and winked.

"That means we get to call you Kelhen too you know." And as they started their ride, no amount of pleading could dissuade the Knights otherwise.

* * *

The journey passed pleasantly and swiftly for all parties. So much so that by lunchtime, they were further ahead than they had expected and were able to stop for a short break in a clearing by the road. Although the travelling had been planned and therefore supplies packed, the four Knights decided to see if they could catch anything more sustaining to eat than any of the dried supplies the group had between them.

Once everyone had tended to their horses Kel simply stood beside Tobe and watched in amusement as the three Knights when about their business; Francis and Iiyan stood arguing over what to hunt then about how to catch it until Turnall finally got fed up and ordered Iiyan to stay at the camp. He had been outvoted on both matters. Though he was older than Tobe almost twice over, he sulked for twice as long as Kel was sure her son would have done on the issue. When Kel told him this with a tone close to maternal pride in her voice, the Knight scowled further.

"I always get outvoted though," he whined. "Turnall always takes Francis' side because he's older and seems to think he's our leader. I'm sick of it..."

"Iiyan?" Kel said to the man as she wearily stood over him with her hands on her hips. He looked up as her shadow fell over him and his eyes widened slightly in terror. He did not however stem his flow of complaining; he wasn't quite ready to stop yet.

"... And he is in no way a better Knight than I am; I can ride and shoot better than him and nearly his equal in sword skills. Just because he's a couple of months older than us and from an old noble family doesn't mean a jot out in the field..."

"Iiyan?" Kel said, more insistently this time.

"Yes?"

"Get over yourself, for all our sakes." Kel said sternly then stalked off to collect firewood, hastily telling Tobe thus.

With Francis and Turnall gone to trawl the surrounding area for game Iiyan and Tobe were left to set up a fire for the cooking and to get everything ready for their return. With this done the two sat in quiet silence that was not uncomfortable to wait for Kel to return once she had calmed down.

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I know it's short and I'm sorry but the next chapter makes up for it AND makes this one necessary as it is.

_Press the review button – you know you want to... :-) _

_X x x_


	9. Chapter Eight: The Challenge

**Chapter Eight: The Challenge**

Francis and Turnall returned a half hour after they had left the clearing to find the camp still a Knight short. Setting down their quarry of rabbit, Turnall immediately set about preparing the meat whilst Francis, having scanned the area, strode over to where Iiyan sat uncomfortably pretending to sharpen his sword.

"What did you do Iiyan?" Francis said sternly without a word of greeting. Iiyan scowled.

"Why is it always me? And why do you always think I've done something wrong? She could have just gone off into the for-"

"He threw a tantrum like a coddled infant." Tobe interrupted grinning widely from where he sat tending to the fire. Turnall laughed deep and loud whilst Francis grimaced at the look Iiyan shot the boy.

"Iiyan how old are you?"

"You know damn well how old I am, Dorbe, as you repeatedly rub it in my face that I am two years less yours!" Iiyan stood and stared at Francis angrily. The two moved closer together, hands clenched at their sides whilst Turnall and Tobe watched on anxiously.

"Now now don't fight..." Kel's voice floated through the trees causing all the turn to see where it was coming from. Finally she walked slowly from between the trees looking calm and amused at the stand-off.

"He started-"

"Gods," Francis closed his eyes and shook his head. Muttering himself he turned back to sit beside Turnall. "We work with a child..."

Kel came into the clearing completely and went to stand behind Tobe. He looked up at her and smiled tenderly as she wrapped her arms round his neck.

"Feeling better?" He asked allowing a little bit of his amusement to escape through.

"Much thank you." Kel answered solemnly then she turned to where Iiyan was standing spluttering about Francis' backhanded comment. Her face darkened as she studied the young man.

"You're for it now boy..." Turnall muttered, more to himself than anyone else, though Iiyan heard him and roared in annoyance.

"I am not a child or a boy! I'm a man! No-one takes me seriously around here!"

"It's because you do not conduct yourself seriously!" Kel shouted back at him making the two other knights look up in alarm. They would not have believed her to have been able to shout that loud. She let go of her son and advanced on the Knight her blood boiling in her veins again.

"If you acted more like an adult then maybe people would treat you like one. As it is you act like an infant ergo people will do little more than ignore, underestimate and disregard you."

"I am perfectly serious when it comes to my job Lady Knight. You have been around us for such a short time, you do not know of what you speak." Iiyan spat the words at Kel with venom.

He stepped close to her in an attempt at menace; one that was underhanded by the fact that he tried to use his height to intimidate the woman before him. However he only had half a head on the Lady Knight and so as she gazed steadily into his eyes in defiance, he backed off slightly as his noble upbringing cringed at his actions. All three of Kel's new boys were taller than her, even if it was just by half a head, and big by normal standards for Knights too. They reminded her of Lord Raoul in their build more than Knights like Neal or her brother. For instance, as she examined Iiyan in front of her Kel was reminded of the exotic bears that could be seen in the King's collection and books of far distant lands.

"I think I do Sir. I have seen it often before," Kel said.

She looked directly in Iiyan's eyes which were burning afresh and knew that this would have to be done in order for the rest of their time together to pass smoothly. It was only his temper speaking just now yet if it did not end well they would part on bad terms and his pride would hinder him ever mending their broken bridge.

"Often young, well-to-do nobles turned Knights, find themselves in need of taking down a peg or two when it comes to the real world."

"I think it is you who needs to be taken down a peg Lady Knight!" Iiyan shouted again turning red in the face. "It is judgemental of you to make such assumptions of me after such a short acquaintance."

"Don't be such a snob! Nobles do it all the time in court; Knights too in the battlefield. If a noble cannot become a Knight on his own then you have to take the noble out of the Knight."

"Do not try me Lady I am in no mood..." Iiyan warned stepping forward once until his chest hit Kel's slightly pushing her back. He turned his head and stared down at her. Behind her Kel heard Francis stand and come over and knew it would do no good – if he interfered Iiyan wouldn't speak to either of them.

"Francis, this is no time to smack him on the head and tell him to have some manners, let him let it all out..." Kel pushed Iiyan slightly right back. Hard enough for him to notice but light enough that it would seem to the others that she was just holding her ground. "You test my patience too Knight. Do not push it much further."

"Push your patience? Lady you are the most tiresome creature I have met!"

"Thank you." Kel said quietly but with menace. "It is a skill I have had to acquire when dealing with arrogant nobles who doubted my skill and bullies who thought they could walk over me."

"I am neither a bully nor arrogant but I too doubt your skill Lady. From what I have seen I disbelieve some of the stories I have heard of you on my travels."

"But surely the fact that there are stories enough suggests that she is a fearsome opponent Iiyan?" Francis called out desperately.

"Nay" Iiyan shook his head lightly but responded firmly.

"Iiyan you are a fool to challenge her! We are on mission man, now is not the time! Save it for the Training Grounds." Turnall sounded disgusted and for a moment Iiyan's rage was directed at another. In his moment of inattention Kel moved away and pulled her glaive from her saddle where it was secured. She gave it to Tobe to hold with a weak smile then returned to stand before Iiyan.

"...Now is the time, don't you see? How can we fight by her side Turnall if I do not trust her skill to be able to get my back if necessary?" Iiyan finished gasping for breath.

"Why would I protect your back Sir without knowing whether you would protect mine or simply stab it at the first opportunity?" Kel said slyly.

She knew it would be like poking a bear – to criticise a Knight's honour. This was exactly what she wanted to do; she wanted him to react so that she could indeed prove herself to him but to get it over with a quickly as possible.

After all, they were on mission.

Kel felt like she was back at the Palace in the Training Grounds proving herself and for once felt as young in her years as she was.

"How dare you!" Iiyan blustered as Turnall and Francis muttered uneasily. "Lady I challenge you to a fight; first to yield."

Not first to draw blood then, Kel thought wryly. She knew that Iiyan would continue if she struck him hard enough for him to bleed but she probably wouldn't. He had a lot of strength behind whatever his weapon was that could do a lot of damage if she judged it wrong. It was vital that she won though and she knew this. If she didn't he would not listen to her on the front and consider her a help rather than a hindrance. If she did at least he may leave her be.

"No, this will not do." Francis said calmly stepping between the two of them. Kel stepped back and yielded at once but Iiyan only moved with reluctance.

"I accept the challenge Iiyan." Kel replied and Francis groaned.

"Woman what are you doing?" He demanded.

"Iiyan needs to know if I have the ability to fight besides him and I am giving him that opportunity to witness. I knew I would have to do it with one of you."

"Better you than me Iiyan..." Turnall said chuckling darkly. He and Tobe were proceeding to cook rabbit on spits over the fire. The smell filled the clearing like the reminder of reality that the hot-blooded Knights needed.

"If you must fight then only with staffs; no drawing blood of any kind you hear me!" Francis ordered sternly and Iiyan immediately agreed, Kel following him.

Iiyan walked over to his horse and withdrew a long oak staff from where it was secured along the length of his horse. Kel moved to Tobe's side, at once serious as was required with any combat. In a quick movement she placed the thick leather encasings over the blades on either of the glaive, protecting both them and Iiyan. It was immediately transformed into an effective staff which she whirled in her hands expertly remembering it weight and feel.

Turnall whistled appreciatively at her weapon whilst Francis, and even Iiyan, eyed it with respect.

"That must be one fearsome stick in battle Kel." Francis noted shooting a glance at Iiyan. "You would not wield it, _I_ know, unless skilled in its way. You must truly be a sight to behold; a goddess on a warhorse."

"Make sure you stay on my side of the battle Francis," Kel joked, stretching to get warm. "I braid my hair and everything – the Amazonian women have nothing on me..."

"I can quite imagine..." Francis muttered and Turnall turned to him laughing darkly.

"I bet you can!"

Kel actually flushed slightly at his comment whilst smiling tightly. Tobe scowled at the pair and shushed them into silence. Tension filled the air suddenly as the silent, serious Iiyan stepped forward into the clear circle at the centre of the clearing and a weary Kel mirrored his actions. She had no way of knowing his skill until he struck, just like in battle.

She was on guard immediately.

Iiyan swung his staff up from where he had been holding it into a defensive stance and began circling. Kel moved with him, reluctant to allow him to close the distance between them. With the glaive she twisted it once in her hands holding it diagonally across her. There was silence all around them besides the chirpings of life. Yet even these sounds seemed to din in Kel's concentration as she watched with some admiration Iiyan's lithe movement.

With a sudden flashing movement he dove forward, thrusting the end of his staff towards her. However Kel had anticipated some sort of attack through his change in footing and expertly pushed the staff away. Iiyan allowed the momentum of the move to carry him through and then spun round to face her again.

When he faced the right way he saw, a fraction of a second too late that Kel was already on him. The Lady Knight had her glaive raised and was bringing it down in a broad stroke towards the young man. He only just managed to block it.

Kel swung again, not allowing Iiyan any breathing space to readjust himself for another attack. He was already flushed and panting slightly; in Kel's mind, clear signs that he was not as practised with this weapon as a Knight should be. She admitted to herself quite openly that he had skill with it, but what use was skill is if was rusted with disuse?

Kel however, still practised every morning with her glaive; doing the complex pattern dances that she had learnt as a young girl. The weight of the weapon was nothing to her and her muscles seemed to be rejoicing in the chance to test out this skill again.

Kel was continuous in her attack, one blow after another forcing Iiyan to defend. She allowed him no time to turn the tide on her and was in effect pushing him backwards through the clearing.

Yet with a sudden burst of grim determination and energy Iiyan met on of her middle swipes and locked their weapons together. He moved their staffs with his superior weight to enable him to push her back again and downwards onto her knees.

"Do you yield Lady Knight?" Iiyan said through his grimace of concentration. Sweat ran freely down his forehead because though it was only a light summer's day, they were all dressed as properly as Knights should be.

"Why, because you have used your superior bulk to force me off my feet? No sir. I feel more skill is needed to win this challenge." Kel answered lightly and shifted her weight onto one foot.

In a seamless move she had learnt in page school, she rolled across the floor, forcing her glaive to disengage from the staff by dragging it with her. Within seconds she was on her feet again and ready to face the attacking onslaught from Iiyan.

"Have you two had enough?" Turnall called pretending to sound bored, though some of his anxiety for one of them injuring themselves or the other shone through.

"Not until she see's that I am just as skilled a fighter as the rest of you!" Iiyan called. With his words came a swiping blow towards Kel's ankles which she narrowly avoided by jumping limberly over the moving weapon.

Iiyan followed the block through and began to pivot on one of his feet when Kel poked him in the back lightly.

He stumbled and fell to the floor without ceremony and when he scrambled to face his opponent he found the leather-covered end of her glaive held to his neck. Iiyan sighed as Francis, Turnall and Tobe clapped politely to acknowledge the victory.

"Do you yield Sir?" Kel asked without moving. She looked down into Iiyan's eyes and saw that all the rage had dissipated from them, leaving disappointment, admiration and light humour.

"Yes Lady. You fight well. I see that now."

"Thank the Gods," Francis muttered turning back to check on the fire as Kel waved at him to shush. She offered her hand to Iiyan having put down her weapon. When they were both standing he shook the hand he held and in turn she clapped him on the back, passing his weapon back to him.

"Too much flourish Iiyan... You fight well but you need to practise too. I _do_ believe you are a skilled fighter but you need to forget the niceties of staff work and just go with it." Kel stretched out, her muscles comfortably exercised, then continued. "Plus I can show you a move to overcome any sort of high blow like that one I used..."

Kel led the young man over to the fire with her arm, listening to him babble about how he had heard she had practise dances for glaive and staff work. They would have no problems now, she was certain and happy for it. Iiyan seemed to be a genuine enough boy with a slight complex in terms of his two Knight-mates. He just needed to be reminded that he was just as important as they were and he would be an awesome force to any enemy to contend with.

"Now..." Kel said as she sat slowly in her seat next to Tobe. She looked him over, watching and shaking her head as he reluctantly pushed the cooked rabbit round his plate. "You had better eat that young man – it's been caught, cooked and prepared so that we do not go hungry. Don't be such a noble and eat!"

Tobe stuck his tongue out at her as he picked up a piece of the meat and deftly put it in his mouth. The men laughed at the way Kel watched him reproachfully. Throughout the meal she continued to chide, coax and bully her son into eating as the men looked on in disbelief.

When they were younger at page school if they hadn't eaten what they had been given and gone hungry, it was tough. At home it had been considered a slight if they had not eaten what had been prepared for them. Never had they been treated in this way before.

"And to think," Francis noted shaking his head with a smile. "Not moments ago she was beating our very own Iiyan's behind in a Knight's challenge. Now she's mothering another young man over his lunch!"

"After everything I've heard about your battle-hardy heroics Kelhen," Turnall said wryly. "You still continue to surprise me."

"You are a mystery and a wonder, you know that?" Iiyan added chuckling. He stood and put the fire out efficiently with the water Francis and Turnall had collected, smothering the flames. He then moved quickly and replaced his staff in his packing.

"Thanks guys... I think there were compliments in there somewhere." Kel replied sarcastically as she moved into her saddle again with a sigh. The party of five all laughed as they broke camp and continued on, to the capital of Tortall that was slowly appearing over the horizon.

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P.s. - Blame any kind of

_Victorian style English on the fact that I'm reading Pride & Prejudice in English Lit. now for next year. Yea... somehow it seems to have attached itself to my Knights' voices... I'm hoping it will pass with time. _

_Let me knowing what you think guys - just press the button! :-D_

_X x x_


	10. Chapter Nine: Don't Say Goodbye

**Chapter Nine: Don't Say Goodbye**

Kel thought Corus looked as exactly the same as it had when she had left it; busy, bustling and alive. It had taken them nearly all day to get here and by the time the four Knights and one boy, had rode through the gates, the people were bustling around finishing any work they had been doing. The roads were full of men and women walking to the palace for shifts and others returning at the end of their day. In all they made slow progress.

The sky was now a deep orange colour flooding the entire city with light, burning away all hint of shadow before the night fell. Every person that past Kel looked content in their lot as far as she could tell, and that was a fact that Kel took great comfort from; the fact that all the work she did most be worth something if the people of Tortall were without fear and discontent in the lives.

A full half-hour since they had entered the capital's streets the party turned into the main palace courtyard and dismounted slowly with a collection of mutters and groans. Whilst the quickest way to travel was in the saddle, it was not the easiest way on the back, behind and joints at any rate.

The stables and courtyard were quiet – a rare thing – meaning that Kel was able to unsaddle and clean her horse and Tobe's herself, giving her a moment of peace and quiet. She sent her son off to pack her a bag of clothing and supplies while she did this. The three Knights fed and watered their horses too at the other end of the long building, giving Kel a little space after the confrontation with Iiyan.

The rest of the ride had been quieter than before; Tobe and Kel had quietly talked together of nothing important whilst the three men had stayed silent, observing this great knight in another role – that of mother and carer. There was no discomfort in the journey yet there wasn't any comfort either. They could have easily been two separate groups of travellers that had caught up with each other on the road. It had upset Kel for a while that after the break none of them felt the need to bridge the gap but after realising this herself, she brushed it aside focussing on Tobe whom she did not know when she would see again.

He was growing so fast and getting so smart that it did hurt Kel a little to leave him, to miss seeing him grow up. She hated to think that she wasn't fulfilling her role properly in some way by being a working mother and yet when she return it filled her with warmth to see the pride and love that Tobe gazed at her with. She knew that he would not allow her to stay behind for him even if she could. He loved the work she did and was pleased to call her his mother.

"Kel!" Her head turned suddenly at the shout from the other end of the stable. She had not realised that the Francis, Iiyan and Turnall had finished their work and were waiting for her as she muttered and groomed her animals. Looking up she saw that Francis had a hand up to catch her attention.

"We're going into the hall to feed ourselves before we head out again. See you in there in a bit?" Turnall informed her as he washed his hands in a barrel that collected rain water. He wiped his hands on his tunic and frowned as he examined the state of it. "And probably change on the way too – I smell like a horse."

"That would probably be from spending the day _on _a horse Turnall!" Francis said sighing and shaking his head. "Honestly... you'd think they'd let any plank take the Ordeal nowadays!"

Turnall splashed water at his year-mate in response. Before the three could turn the banter into an all out squabble Kel quickly raised her head and replied.

"That's fine – I'll meet you in there in a moment." Francis and Turnall stopped talking immediately as she began and at the impatience in her voice, stayed silent, bowing respectfully and leaving.

Kel looked back down at where she was wiping down Streak's flank having finished Asher and led him into a more permanent residence where he would remain until Tobe moved him to the stables by the Knights' residences the next day. The quiet in the silence was a comfort to her in that moment as she hummed to the horses. With her boys gone all there was to be heard was her singing, the snuffles of the horses and the movements of their feet and the brush which she dragged slowly down her faithful mount's side. Having time like this before going away was priority for Kel now; it allowed her to centre herself completely on what she was about to do. It allowed for everything else in her life to be pushed back so that she could concentrate on the task at hand. Long gone were the days with the Own when she was woken for a mission and jumped straight into the saddle to go riding off over the horizon. Knights had to pack supplies for themselves now and prepare weaponry and mounts before riding out; strategy too sometimes. As with age her responsibility had grown so that she had more to prepare before she acted, so too had the amount she had to remove from her mind. But that couldn't be helped.

Raoul, her master during those Squire years, had told her last year that it was to be expected.

"Kel," he had said at a Midwinter gathering. "Life to us moves like a merchant's caravan. At each stop we stand to gain and lose something. Sometimes time allows us to relieve the burden, giving items to others to carry of and use. Sometimes we carry on with no change. But other times we can stop and add to what we carry, filling up our space so that at the next stop it takes a little more rooting to find the item that you're looking for or any space left to fill. Just have to learn to pack sensibly and to find the space amongst it all."

"Kel." For the second time, the resounding sound of her name brought her back from her thoughts to join the present and the horses.

Iiyan was standing by the entrance to the stall she was in. He looked awkward and uncomfortable, staring at his feet intently whilst waiting for her answer. Obviously everyone had not left when she had thought.

With a sigh Keladry put down her brush and came to stand on the other side of the swinging gate. When the edges of her boots touched the wooden door she leant over it and took hold of Iiyan's arm drawing him closer. When he was standing before her, she reached up and made him look at her by tilting his chin gently. His gaze met hers anxiously and she smiled patting his cheek in a motherly way. Calling them her boys wasn't just a name – those she worked with became important to her even after the mission was over. Knights as young as this always became like older version of Tobe's to her, always had.

"Why are you so nervous Iiyan? Thinking of challenging me again?"

"I'm sorry!" Iiyan replied suddenly, the words bursting out of him. "I don't want things to be awkward between us on the mission. I was angry and I have the temper of an-"

"It's fine." Kel interrupted soothingly, unwilling to let the boy get worked up. "I understand and we should just move on."

For the moment they stood in silence as Kel waited for Iiyan to say what he was obviously reluctant to say. He had realised how close they were standing, despite the stable door, and had blushed slightly giving his cheeks a pleasant colour. With him standing so close Kel could see the man behind the boy's features and she smiled encouragingly.

"We will probably be away for a while Kel," Iiyan whispered quietly and Kel leant forward, leaning on the door unconsciously to catch his words. "You should prepare Tobe..."

His stopped awkwardly when he looked up deep into her eyes from where he was inches from her face. His gaze dropped for a moment then roamed her face freely before settling back to search her eyes. He took a step forward and placed both hands on the door too outside of hers. His face came closer and Kel's insides registered a blistering flash of heat before sense returned.

He was _too_ close.

Kel stepped back feeling uncomfortable. She hadn't been expecting either of those things; the caring warning or the flash of feeling she had experienced under Iiyan's examination.

Iiyan looked disappointed for a moment but before Kel could truly grasp this he had hidden the emotion skilfully.

"Thank you, I will..." Iiyan nodded and turned to leave for real this time. When he reached the door and had pushed it open Kel spoke again. "Iiyan?"

He turned back to look at her and she smiled at him again; a smile that she hoped was full of warmth and friendship.

"Thanks for thinking about us."

Iiyan nodded and left, leaving Kel alone in the stable with just her jumbled feelings and the horses for company.

* * *

Keladry's next port of call was her rooms. Iiyan's warning was ringing in her head as she pushed open the door to her suite and saw Tobe bent over her saddle bag refilling it with items more suited to a mission than a holiday to New Hope. In that split second Kel saw the Tobe of the future; a grown man with a childhood that she could only remember fractions of. An unhappy premonition.

With a blink of her eyes Kel banished the thought and she smiled as her son turned. He had clipped the bag shut and put it on the floor besides her bed, whilst sitting on the end of it himself. She didn't need to check it – the contents would be perfect as always, with nothing forgotten as usually happened when she did her own packing. Kel moved over to her large cupboards that held her armour, pulling them open and withdrawing items.

"Are the Three all sorted to ride out?" Tobe asked breaking the silence.

"The Three?" Kel frowned, turning round to place a breast-plate beside her saddle bag.

"My name for those three goons we rode down with," Tobe answered shrugging.

"Very original of you..."

"Thanks." Tobe grinned at the sarcasm. "You all set?"

"I think so..."

"You got that chainmail vest?"

Kel paused for a moment then removed the garment in question from the cupboard smiling sheepishly.

"I have now..."

"Good. In case it's warm."

Kel shut the cupboard and went to sit on the bed. As soon as she was down Tobe moved to be more firmly by her side.

"Will you be gone long?" He whispered putting his hands round the one of hers that was closest to him. Kel looked up into his eyes and saw the worry and fear that only came out of her son when she was leaving. Immediately tears welled in her eyes.

"I think it will be... a fair stretch this time." Kel answered sighing. Tobe squeezed her hand.

"Be careful. I want you back in exactly this condition you hear?"

"You mean old and sunburnt?" Kel tried to joke but the seriousness in Tobe's eyes saw through her attempt.

"I mean it you know."

"I know." Kel replied. "And I always try."

"Good. Keep it that way." Tobe said firmly.

"I'll write if it's going to be a more permanent stretch. Maybe you can meet me if it's safe and we'll finish our holiday?" Kel said awkwardly.

"I'd like that..." Tobe replied faintly. After a deep breath he continued trying to be light-hearted. "It's not like you aren't coming back is it?"

"No it's not." Kel answered firmly. "I'll be back before you know it and moaning to you about cleaning your room and eating your vegetables like a proper mother."

"You _are _a proper mother Kelhen – the work you do is valued! Besides," Tobe added. "I don't need you under my feet."

And then silence reigned again.

Why is this always so hard? Kel thought. Why can't I ever get the words out that I want to say? Her eyes were full of tears that she would not shed in front of her son; they would only make him more upset. She promised herself that she _would not_ cry.

"Don't say goodbye ok?" Tobe whispered brokenly. Then he turned to her and buried his face in the crook of her arm. Drawing him close Kel broke her promise and cried with him for the short moments that they had before she left.

"Never. Never to you." Kel promised.

* * *

When the bells tolled seven after midday Kel mounted her horse in the courtyard again. Tobe waved them off silently, their farewells having been said in private but without any words of parting. All Kel had said to Tobe had been brief but filled with sincerity and love. As she rode out of the capital listening to the echoing chimes, those words repeated through her head like a reminder that she would be back in no time.

"Sleep well darling, I love you. Be good."


	11. Chapter Ten: Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter Ten: The Calm before the Storm**

Without Tobe there, the rest of the journey passed with ease and conversation flowed freely. Kel liked it this way; she preferred knowing the people she was fighting with. When it looked like you were facing impossible odds, knowing the particulars of the men on either side of you added an extra incentive to your own to turn the tide on adversity. Or so Kel had found.

The four Knights were keen to reach the border by the coast to see dawn greet them over the waves and so rode hard across the open countryside, fast enough for shapes to blur and colours to mix. Yet it was not a hard ride; with the light dying all the heat of the day had vanished too leaving only the faint breeze to cool the flanks of their mounts and to whip across their faces.

"So _Kelhen,_" Turnall drawled looking at her grinning.

They had slowed the pace down to a spritely trot whilst they passed through a town and to give the horses some sort of respite. Kel scowled but raised one eyebrow for him to go on.

"How long have you and the boy been together?"

"_Tobe_ and I have been together before even you had started page school so mind your mouth cheeky." Kel answered quickly, poking out her tongue in his direction.

Her boys were shocked.

Even after her mothering behaviour around Tobe, and to them too, it was still a shock for them to see her so playful.

"But that can't be right – he's doesn't look old enough to have done a stint as a servant. How old is he?" Iiyan enquired mildly.

"He's fourteen..." Kel answered quietly, thinking back to when she had found that small scrap of a boy in the inn.

"And five years with you, would make him nine when you found him!" Francis seemed shocked but Kel laughed bitterly.

"Orphans were so easily acquired back then – good for use as slaves, run-about's and whipping dogs. Thank the Gods that the monarchy decided enough was enough when children had been worked so hard from infancy that they were illiterate, ignorant and idle – no good for the realm at all..."

"You speak very bitterly of the King and Queen for a Knight," Iiyan remarked quietly and all three boys watched Kel's reaction furtively.

At first she smiled and then with a short, bitter laugh she answered him.

"You try being the only one in the history of the page school to have a probationary year; fifty-two weeks of not knowing whether you would return the next year; all because of my gender, Iiyan. The Queen I have no qualms with – I know she supported me from the start."

"And the King?"

"I dislike double-standards in anyone. I respect him and have pledged my sword to him till I die but I cannot forget how I was treated as a child."

"And yet you are still a Knight?" Francis asked slightly amused; the woman had fire, no-one could deny that.

"I serve the realms and its people. The King, in a way, is doing the same as me. I have no problems with working with him to keep Tortall safe."

"If it were me..." Turnall started shaking his head.

"... You'd have thrown a rage and beaten the nearest opponent to a pulp!" Iiyan finished for Turnall and her boys laughed.

"I cannot deny that it's true..." Turnall muttered then turned in his saddle to look at her. "And what did you do about it?"

"Threw a fit and pledged to be better than any of the other boys in my year... And _then _beat any opponents to pulp!"

The four Knights laughed together but once through the town, they began to ride harder and conversation ended. Francis had noted quietly to himself that without her son, Lady Keladry was a different woman. She seemed her age; no longer looking after a child nearly half her age, she became a young woman who joked and laughed and flirted. He thought the change a welcome one but knew from all he had seen that Kel would not give up the other part of herself for anything whilst she breathed.

And nor did he wish her too.

He thought her charming and witty, just as a young lady should. But she was also intelligent, sharp and quick; compliments he did not hand out often amongst acquaintances. He turned his head slightly and inspected a profile of her on his left. On her horse, galloping along, her eyes were bright with the joy of riding and she smiled at no-one in particular. With hair swinging out like a banner behind her as she flew, she was an awesome sight to behold. Her care-free spirit as well as her beauty was a welcome change to him who had lived too long with his two year-mates.

At last, after hours of darkness, the four topped the last hill of the horizon before the border. Below them lay a small permanent village engulfed by a tented city. A patchwork sprawled across the open country side clearly marking the seriousness and potential danger of a situation, by the sheer size and impressiveness of the force the monarchs had sent.

In the dark, the lights of numerous camp fires could be seen as well as the odd moving torchlight that swayed and flickered along the rows of the camp as men made their journeys and patrolled the huge set-up.

The riders paused at top the hill and surveyed the land below them in silence, until Iiyan glanced up grim-faced at Francis. Turnall whistled impressed by the organisation they had achieved on such a huge scale but Kel said nothing. The seriousness of this mission had been highlighted for them below and now was not the time for joking.

Kel knew this was the time for action.

* * *

Outside the commander's tent – clearly marked with the flag of Tortall flying high above it in the centre of the camp – the four Knights dismounted and handed their horses to the waiting Men at Arms. Without a backwards glance Kel entered, knowing full well who she would see before her inside.

"Kel! At last! You're back! Thank the Gods!"

Lord Raoul stood from his chair at the desk and came towards her with outstretched arms. For a moment they embraced; Kel smiling widely at the man who had been her Knight Master when she was a Squire, and who had since become a good friend of hers. Releasing her he moved back, contenting himself by grasping onto her shoulders. He looked down at her grimly.

"We live in strange times Kel, strange gruesome times..."

"Lord Raoul." Francis greeted the man as he entered the tent with his two year-mates. The three came to stand beside Keladry who shot them a thankful look when Raoul released her to shake their hands. "It's a pleasure to work with you again."

"Francis! It has been a while has it not? Good to have you aboard on this. I'm sorry sirs, but I do not know your names..."

"Turnall of Seer's Bridge my Lord. It's a pleasure to meet the legend at last! The Giantkiller!" Turnall shook Kel's old Knight Master's hand with the kind of reverie usually reserved by Knights for their King. But Raoul definitely deserved that sort of reception – as Kel knew full well – for all the things he had achieved in his years.

"I'm Iiyan of Mountain's End."

"Good to have you too Knights – we need all the help we can get on this one." Shaking his head again Raoul turned and strode back to the desk with the four Knights following behind him. At last Raoul was settled again in his seat wherefrom he gestured for the arrivals to sit on the coach at the side.

"What is going on my Lord? What can you tell us?" Kel asked anxiously; she was eager to get down to business. The quicker they had this problem dealt with, the quicker she could return to Tobe.

"Have patience my dear." Raoul said chuckling grimly. "You'll get all the details soon – when the other Knights get back I'm going to brief you all, now that you four have arrived."

"How many Knights do you have here?" Iiyan asked confused; it was very rare that more than several Knights were needed at one situation. They accompanied teams of Riders or the King's Own, who often numbered over fifty men.

"Including you?" Raoul sighed and rubbed his hands together uneasily. "There are twenty Knights."

"What on earth for?" Francis exclaimed. Kel frowned silently, knowing that Raoul would reveal all in the briefing as he had promised and asking for more details now would get them nowhere. She knew it was definitely going to be a long trip if there were twenty Knights here – Goddess only knew what was happening but it couldn't be good.

"How many men have you?" Turnall asked quietly.

"I have four squads of the Own with me and a Rider's Squad. We total over one-hundred and fifty all together."

Kel sighed and stretched as her boys grumbled amongst themselves uneasily. That scale was unheard of on situations that were handled without public awareness.

"That would explain the camp then – you've got to feed, water and house everyone and their mounts too..."

Raoul nodded.

"...I can't understand what would need that many Knights though My Lord. Are you sure that is not too many?"

"Believe me Kel. When you hear what's been happening here on the border, you may think that Twenty Knights is just about enough to cover everything."

Everyone was silent, processing what Raoul had said. Outside the wind had picked up slightly and the walls of the tent moved seemingly as restless as its inhabitants were to get to work. Suddenly the door to the tent opened and a group of tall broad-shouldered silhouettes advanced through the opening.

The rest of the Knights had arrived. Now the briefing could start...


	12. Chapter Eleven: The Briefing

**Chapter Eleven – The Briefing**

_Hey guys! This chapter is for Kari of Mindelan (told you I would :-D) for ALL the questions she has. I hope this answers some of them – thanks for all your reviews and help!_

_So... am writing this from a cute little hotel room by the seaside in the Isle of Wight, in a little place called Sandown. The weather has finally made good on its promise to give us some sunshine for summer but I thought I'd get this down for all those of you who want to know what's so terrible that 150 men are needed on a mission. _

_Review guys I wanna know what you all think before I move on any more! Thanks for all those who reviewed the last chapter – I'm on 45 reviews guys – nearly there then I can die a happy woman :-)_

_X x x_

* * *

Kel knew the majority of the men who walked through those tent flaps. She had worked with the majority of them, was good friends with many, and was related to two.

Her brothers, Conal and Inness were there at the back of the group. They smiled in greeting briefly at their baby sister but then their faces returned to the grim expression that was repeated numerous times throughout the men.

Her year mates made up a chunk of the group having not been stationed permanent places as yet due to the war and recent activity within the kingdom. There was Esmond, Merric and Faleron at the front of the group leading the Knights in. Owen also smiled at her from where he stood amidst the heard, waving inconspicuously. Though now a fully grown man, he seemed still as baby-faced as he had been as a page; smiling and youthful he hadn't changed a bit. His cousin was here too – Warric of Mandash. Kel hadn't known him too well as a squire having been two years older than him but she had worked with him on the winter raids and knew him to be Owen's twin in every other way besides appearance.

The rest of the band was made up of older men and people Kel had no particular urge to work with again particularly. Of this former group, the simple fact that men of such standing were here made Kel's stomach flop uneasily at what was to come. If the King had sent some of his leading advisors, then what was going on down here was dangerous, serious, unknown or all three. None of these things was a good combination in Kel's opinion. Gary the Younger of Naxen and Imrah Legann were men that the King often called on for advice Kel knew. Their skills and achievements were well-known amongst the younger Knights like Kel and her boys, from stories and accounts told around camp-fires after dark. Having them here was both reassuring and worrying. Lord Wyldon of Cavall, Wayland of Darroch and Paxton of Nond completed the group of older Knights; all of whom had experience that would be extremely useful, Kel knew, when the time came.

Of the latter group – those who Kel had no inclination to work with ever again – Quinden of Marti's Hill and Zahir Ibn Alhaz though both now hopefully more mature than they had been as pages, Kel did not enjoy working with simply because of the history she held in association with the pair as the deceased Joren of Stone Mountain's cronies. Her past dealings with the pair, now as fully fledged Knights, she knew that they were both extremely hard workers and good men to have against any enemy for their sheer force and power, yet she could not simply bury what had happened at school.

The last person who made up the group of twenty Knights now assembled in the tent was Cleon of Kennan who Kel had wished to see as little of as possible ever since they had parted ways as Squires. Still as tall and handsome as Kel remembered him being, she felt her face flush as she avoided catching his gaze. They had worked together before and that had been awkward too and Kel didn't think there would ever be a time when it wasn't. Again there was too much history between them.

Now that everyone was assembled and seated within the tent, on couches and chairs as well as the floor and cushions, Raoul stood and taking a deep breath explained the situation they were facing without greeting, excuse or waffle.

* * *

"As many of you know there have been rumblings for a while now that there is something happening on the border; something that people have not been able to understand or fight. Between here and Tyra, in the No Man's Land, people have been said to be disappearing into the forest and swamp, yet they return again within days without having any memory of what happened. And that's the lucky ones. Others are never seen again."

_The mumbles we heard on the journey_, Kel thought idly but pushed the thought aside to concentrate on what Raoul was saying.

"Many villagers are saying that it is a Tyran force capturing people, others say its slavers. Some say they are simply lost to accidents that happen in the swamps whilst the survivors remember nothing other than the colour silver bright and piercing within their memories. What we do know is that of these people who have not yet returned, a company of the Own can be counted within their number."

A murmuring grew within the Knights in the tent but their Commander didn't even pause to bring them to quiet again.

"Three hundred people around the borders have been reported missing, of which a little over half have been found again after less than five days wandering dazed in fields outside of the No Man's Land. The rest have yet to be found; simply vanished into thin air or so it seems. The Tyran Ambassador claims no knowledge on the attacks and for now the King has to accept that the Tyran Republic has nothing to do with the happenings."

The murmuring grew louder but not so loud that Raoul's loud voice could not be heard.

"These people need to be found and the culprits will be tried for any crimes. Since Tyra is claiming innocence, Tortall will be bringing about justice on these occurings. Each Knight will lead a group of soldiers from the Own or the Riders and the entire No Man's Land area will be thoroughly searched for any signs of these missing villagers, merchants and soldiers as well as any signs of unlawful activities. This is as little information as the King and his men have been able to gather but once we have done this swoop we will decide how to proceed."

Lord Raoul's voice quietened towards the end of his speech and all the men became silent again to catch his last words that were little more than whispered.

"With such little information, as with any mission, extreme caution must be exercised at all times. We have no idea what is out there and every soldier, rider and Knight must be on their guard at all times. A hundred people cannot have simply disappeared; Numair Salmalin has given us a great written description of any signs that we would see if they had been magically transported, seen as he is unable to be here. However the area is huge and we must cover it all. I need every man..."

Raoul glanced at Kel and grinned sheepishly. She raised an eyebrow at him with a small smile.

"...And woman, to look for any small sign that will help us to bring these people home again."

* * *

Kel sat at one of the many blazing campfires under the night sky shortly after the briefing and digested all that she had heard. Many of the other Knights were doing the same but Kel was too engrossed in her own thoughts to notice.

She couldn't believe that three hundred people had managed to disappear, especially in an area that was already heavily manned due to the fact that it was the border. She couldn't believe that there were still over one hundred people missing, most she guessed would probably turn out to be dead if any of the rumours were to be believed. She couldn't believe that Dom had been right... to an extent.

Men of the Own _had_ disappeared; Dom had been in New Hope on an urgent mission indeed - so urgent that the King had cut her holiday short. So urgent and yet Kel had really refused to help because of her own personal feelings. This fact was niggling at the back of her mind; worming and writhing constantly like a small being in the base of her head.

She wondered whether Dom had indeed proceeded with his mission – whether he was out there somewhere in the danger zone, alone or with few others, searching for his missing men. Her heart said yes.

Even after everything they had been through, she hoped to the Gods that her gut feeling was wrong for once.

* * *

"So basically," Francis said as he perched beside Kel an hour later, pulling her from her thoughts. "In a nut shell, we're being sent into an unknown area, against an unknown foe, looking for an unknown amount of living people, to an unknown fate. Is that everything?"

"Pretty much," Kel said sighing as she stretched. She had been sitting with her thoughts for too long as was glad that Francis had stirred her. "Although we do know that there are under one hundred people left to find, the area is nearly the size of Corus and the foe... is a really, really, nasty one..."

"I like your way of thinking Mindelan." Francis said laughing. He pulled up one leg like a child and leant his chin on it, lacing his fingers around the outside cupping it to his chest. Even with this position he was still a head taller than she sitting as they were.

"I'm glad it amuses you... It's better than the doom and gloom you brought with you anyway!"

Kel laughed lightly along with him, watching as he warmed his hands on the fire for a moment. In the half-light Francis was a startling sight; both fearsome and awesome in the same blow. The shards of light struck his high cheek bones glancing off creating smooth straight edges to the darkness. Above, his eyes shone brightly in the light hiding all feeling behind a burning cover as he stared into the flames. Kel was interrupted in her admiration by Francis suddenly turning to her and staring seriously down at her.

"Do you ever get nervous?" He asked quietly. His burning eyes were wide and turned on her like two searing beacons searching out answers from her soul. His gaze made her shiver violently but it didn't make her wish to be out from under it; the heat bordered on pleasure and pain in a strange combination.

"Sometimes," Kel admitted grudgingly and he turned away again to examine the embers before them.

"Times like now? When you're facing the unknown?"

"Definitely." Kel admitted willingly. "I hate not knowing what I'm going to stumble over..."

"How can they expect me to win against an unknown enemy?" Francis sighed and turned to her again.

When Kel didn't answer he sighed and placed a hand on her knee in a friendly pat. Kel's breathing quickened even further at that when the hand hovered, and came to rest there again.

"I don't know how I can expect you to answer these questions for me..."

"You will win against an unknown enemy," Kel interrupted him. "Because your skills are amongst the best in the realm. Knights are prepared to face anything. That's why they send us out with faith that we'll win."

"You believe that?"

"I do." Kel replied firmly and gently placed a hand over his. He looked up quickly and then glanced at his hand, as if realising where it was for the first time. Kel smiled at him a little and when he returned it, the unsure expression had gone from his face so she withdrew her hand reassured that he felt better. After a second and a light squeeze Francis pulled his hand back too, though there was heat and sparks were it had sat on Kel's leg causing her to shiver again. With a sudden quick movement, Kel's arm darted out again and grabbed that hand in a vice giving her the emphasis she felt her words needed.

"We win because we stand for Tortall itself. We win because that is what we're trained to do."

* * *

No-one slept much that night.

The men and women of the Own and the Riders had organised tournaments to pass the evening, as they had apparently done for the others that had past. Outside the commander's tent, the swords-play competition was held – with Raoul in residence to watch. There was no camp-fire here in the clearing, simply torches placed in a ring on posts to light the space. The wind had dropped and now the sides of the tents all around only twitched lightly on swirls of breezes that passed through the maze-like camp. An archery competition and a hand-to-hand combat tournament had also been set-up in other large clearings, yet the sword fights were the most popular.

The circular space was packed. Not everyone had come to compete however, some merely to spectate, and stood round the edges whilst anyone wishing to enter the heats stood off to one side. There was about forty men and women altogether who wanted to compete from the Own, the Riders and the Knights.

Within this group could be found both Kel and Francis, who had both entered after some encouragement from Owen and Turnall, both of whom were merely spectating themselves. They were not the only two Knights yet when Kel's heat came, they were the only pair of Knights to be drawn against each other.

A ripple of interest flew around the circle who watched as the two friends drew their weapons and entered the marked circle. The nature of the competition dictated that the winner was the one who got their opponent to yield or disarmed them; there was to be no injury or bloodshed. They were on the King's business after all.

"Well well..." Francis murmured as he started to circle Kel slowly. She moved with him, shifting her weight from foot to foot, wary of how little she knew of his abilities.

"Yes this is an unlikely out-come isn't it? First a heart-to-heart by the campfire, now swords fight by torch light."

"And who said this job wasn't full of surprises?"

Francis grinned. With a blinding sudden burst of speed he pounced forward. Kel took a step back to avoid being skewered on the end of his blade and brought her own up in a block.

"Still I do get the privilege of your company some more."

"Oh you charmer you..." Kel murmured in reply twisting her sword free from the contact to jab underneath Francis' own.

"I aim to please." The crowd of spectators closest to them chuckled at the exchange occurring between the duelling pair all the while as they parried blows and blocks.

Francis swung his weapon away and pushed Kel's aside breaking the contact between the pair and jumping back out of arm's reach. She followed him however and struck with a combination of high and low strikes forcing Francis onto the defensive.

The crowd watching included Lord Wyldon of Cavall who stood beside Raoul smiling slightly, cheering Keladry on within his mind. As she brought her sword up in a particularly fast dig past Francis' defences trying to pull the weapon from his grasp, he leaned over to Raoul.

"She's still got it hasn't she?" He murmured allowing a fleck of admiration to intone his voice. Raoul wordlessly raised his eyebrows. Emotion from Wyldon was rare and to be the cause of it was a great achievement; one which at that precise moment Kel was unaware and unconcerned with.

In response to her strike Francis turned his own sword and locked the two together then pulling Kel to him. Their blades were between them as the pair struggled to pull their sword free without harming themselves and whilst trying to disarm the other.

"Now now. That wasn't very nice was it," Francis murmured quietly so that only she could hear, and she smiled grimly. Try as she might, Francis had the upper hand in this struggle having slightly more weight behind his efforts, even though Kel had muscle enough to match him.

"Neither is this... How do you know Raoul?" Kel asked suddenly pulling desperately at her weapon.

"Back when-" Francis began and then stopped as he was victorious in disengaging their blades. He swung away from Kel and moved a distance back shifting the weapon to a more comfortable hold in his hand. They circled again and he continued without taking his eyes off Kel and her lethal Griffin.

"I was his squire." Francis replied and he swung his sword around his head in a lethal arc bringing it down with a clang against Kel as he leapt closer. In the surprise at his declaration Kel only just managed to bring up her blade again to counter his second attack moments after the first. Then the words were swept from her mind for a moment under a rain of attacks from Francis.

Each was met with a firm block as Kel waited for a momentary pause in the continuous attack, waiting to use it to her advantage.

That moment came after seemingly hours though it had only been less than a minute, when Francis paused to bring his weapon up again at the right height and angle from a low swipe.

Kel seized her chance. She thrust her blade towards him and twisted it when he tried to engage the swords again. With an artful move she wrenched Francis' sword from his hand and sent it sailing to the edge of the clearing.

As it flew she swooped one leg around between them, caught his feet and sent Francis crashing to the floor. In one fluid movement she straddled him where he lay flat on his back disarmed and placed her weapon at his throat, grinning widely.

"Really? Me too!" Francis glanced down at the blade and grimaced. The applause from their audience made the end of their conversation incomprehensible to all besides the pair. For a second Francis took in her position with a raised eyebrow, raking his eyes over her. Yet when his eyes met hers they held, as if stuck in place by steel themselves, and heat flashed between them. He smiled then, admitting defeat and relaxing under her thighs.

"I know – he's sent me into the dust with that move too..."

_

* * *

_

There you have it... we're going into No Man's Land. But what will happen? Will Kel let Francis up so that they can go fight some mysterious adversary of the realm... or will she keep him pinned there all night? Review guys... otherwise he'll be stuck there for a while... and only the Gods will know what happens then...

_X x x_


	13. Chapter Twelve: Ground Zero

**Chapter Twelve – Ground Zero**

_Hey everyone – thanks for all the reviews for the last update; I was shocked at how many I got :-) You are all AMAZING!_

_This chapter is for Aretina – for all the messages I've had over this week which have been a huge help... and a bit of a distraction lol. It's your fault that I'm a little bit late this time – but that's ok because it's here now. Joking hunni – thanks for all your support!_

_X x x_

* * *

Dawn broke over the camp in a wave of reluctant light creeping on the horizon. There was no gradual spectrum of colour to greet the morning; pale diluted sunlight simply appeared where it had not been before. Even nature here, on the border, in this strange place, seemed subdued and wary of what was to come.

Very little was moving it was so early. The wind had died down in the night, bringing with it a small rain shower that had refreshed the land; now the air was still. Men from the overnight watch were trooping to their tents exhaustedly at the end of their shifts, whilst others strode briskly to their posts. All the campfires had died down during the dark hours with no-one to watch them, for everyone else besides the watch had been sent to bed. In one clearing surrounded by tents there could in the bleak morning light be seen a tall lithe figure working through a practice dance with the ease and skill that hinted at many years experience. Grim and determined the warrior worked knowing that her peaceful ritual may not be possible when they crossed the border.

Today was the first day of action.

Today, they moved into Ground Zero.

* * *

Eighty kilometres away, inside No Man's Land, one man was awake to watch the disappointing dawn. Around him lay the thirty strong force he had been able to amass to help him. All were asleep except for him. Everyone was exhausted from the huge distance they had covered the day before, him included yet he always awoke at this time. The fact that he was in the middle of some strange and foreign land didn't mean he had to make an exception.

He glanced around him.

The ground was softer still from the rain that they had had in the night but it wasn't muddy. On the ground's surface lay a covering of leaves and pine needles giving the normally brown earth a mixed hue of green also. It was a strange surface that the men found comfortable to sleep on even with the sharp points. It was spongy and bare of stones unlike many of the fields of Tortall where they had had to sleep in their time. It was a welcome change.

It made the man uneasy.

They had reached this strange forest land with its bare towering trees and its spongy ground and its deathly silence, two days ago after marching under the cover of darkness across Tortall. It was imperative that they weren't caught, they had been told. No-one must know what they were doing. For two days they had been exploring this weird place; uneasily sweeping the area looking for their quarry. They knew it was here it was simply a game of cat and mouse, like many that the experienced men of the group had done before. They weren't worried – this was what they did every other day.

As the call of a bird rang out around their ramshackle camp the man stood and got ready for another day. He lit the fire and put a pot of water to boil; they had found a stream that seemed to run between the layers of earth deep beneath their feet, very strange. He then turned to wake his men – it was time they started going again.

* * *

"So everyone knows what area they are to sweep?"

Twenty nodding heads replied silently to Raoul's grim question. It was two hours since dawn and the change was miraculous. Men and women were bustling about preparing themselves for the day and taking the camp apart. Tents were being rolled up into satchels, horses were being prepared and squads were eating their morning meals on rotations round the campfires. Everyone knew what they had to do; clear that by the time their Commander called a half hour past the third hour of the day everyone would be ready to move.

The Knights were in their last full-group briefing. After being given an overview of the situation the day before Raoul had decided to let everyone eat and get some rest, preferring to tell them their exact instructions in the morning when they were all fresh and alert. Now that was done and everyone was clear and knew exactly what they had to do in the next week before returning, he was getting ready to break up the group.

Raoul had decided that each Knight would take charge of a small group of the force available, a part of a squad from the Own or the Riders, and sweep an area of fifty kilometres in two days before returning to what was left of the camp to report back. He knew there was no time to tentatively branch outwards from the safe areas and so everyone was riding out today. The ones closest to the Tortall border would go this morning then give a preliminary ok signal for the rest to ride through these areas and move onto new ones.

Francis' words from the night before rang out in Kel's head.

"... W_e're being sent into an area, against an unknown foe, looking for an unknown amount of living people, to an unknown fate. Basically."_

He was right – she couldn't deny that – but what else could they do? Kel supported everything Raoul was doing completely; she would do the same. If they wasted time doing a slow tiered sweeping more people could be lost. This way the whole area was checked at once meaning anything in there could be found without it moving mid-search to an area that had already been sweeped, and being lost.

And Kel was sure there was definitely something out there to find.

"I want everyone to proceed with caution, even once you're in position and have been sweeping for a day. I'm not losing any men in the first part of the mission – we need all the help we can get to combat whatever we find. Is that understood?"

Silent nodding was all the reply he got, and needed.

* * *

Kel had been assigned a group from the Own since she had worked with nearly all of the squads already. Leaving the rest of the Knights after Raoul's dismissal she headed towards in the direction the Commander had told her group was camped. She was eager to make sure everyone knew what was happening.

They were to sweep an area in the second layer from the border, near to the middle. Its fifty kilometres lay on the flat bottom of the sloping edge with several of the many miniscule No Man's Land streams running through it. At the furthest edge, the first of the Tyran swamps began besides the water creating an extra feature Kel had to be wary of.

Each group comprised of seven soldiers and a Knight – leaving a small number behind to watch the camp with the Men at Arms. When Kel reached the small circle of semi-deconstructed tents where her men were, she paused and surveyed the faces in silence for a moment. They were all men that Kel had worked with in the last several months, as Raoul well knew. She got on well with them and knew she would have no trouble – the last mission they had completed together had been a Minotaur hunt and none of them had gone without seeing some bloodshed in taking it down. In the Own men – and women – who had bled together considered themselves friends till the end.

She groaned and her men's faces turned towards her, towards the noise. When they saw her they all grinned.

"That's it! I'm going to go and complain to that big soppy Commander of yours – stuck with you lot again honestly!" Kel threw up her hands in mock exasperation than laughed when she couldn't pretend any longer. The men all stopped what they doing and came towards her as she quickly walked into the centre of the decamping effort.

"Nice to see you too..." The oldest man and the closest to her, said grinning. He grabbed her by the shoulders and surveyed her smiling.

"Durg!"

"If you grow anymore they are going to have to make your Knight's uniform out of sacking..."

Before Kel could speak the man pulled her to him and gave her a tight hug which she returned as hard as she could. Finally after a moment, he released her and stepped back allowing the others to give her quick hugs and handshakes in turn.

Durg was the first man to speak to Kel when she had started working with their squadron from the Fourth. Old enough to be her father, he was a senior of the Own but was one of the best fighters she knew as well as funny, paternal and charming. He treated her like one of his own daughters and she in turn respected his opinion and mind as much as she did that of her own father.

The next man to greet her was Jowal, another who had always been welcoming to her. Tall and handsome he was much a ladies' man as any of her year mates. Then, Yansor and Wellam the young twin brothers who had joined recently when Kel had first met them who now seemed to be a comfortable part of the small Fourth faction that Kel she saw before her. Frayton was there at the back, one of the quietest and last to greet her as usual, but really a lethal fighter who Kel was glad to have with her against the unknown. Lastly there were Hared and Qeyran who had taken some time to decide that she was worth following, but now seemed as happy to see her as the rest.

For a moment swirls of conversation swam around Kel making her feel like she was closer to home.

"How is-"

"Are we going to-"

None of it made any sense; she caught snatches and words from each as they mingled around her but she was content just to smile on and embrace her old friends.

"What's the plan for-"

"When are we riding out Kel?" Frayton spoke quietly but with a calm attention that made everyone else quiet down.

"An hour after the first signal – we are the fifth group riding out..."

Kel had barely finished her words when every one of her men swarmed back to their chores, head now back on the business in hand not on the familial Knight they were following.

* * *

Sitting astride Streak, Kel felt cool, calm and collected. Her pack sat behind her full of supplies for her and her mount making her feel more prepared for what she was about to do. The fact that she had Griffin strapped to her hip and her glaive tied within reaching distance helped as well.

Behind her waited her seven men silently, as cool as the Knight they followed while they waited for the signal. They were right besides the marker at the edge of the camp that declared the Tortall border accompanied by a low-rise brick wall threading its way across the pasture. The horses would step over it easily; after all what was the need for a defensive border with a peaceful republic?

The area was silent and empty. The only people within it were Kel's group and, much to her chagrin, Cleon's group waiting to enter the No Man's Land. Raoul waited with them looking between the sun and the device Numair Salmalin had given him for precise timings.

He looked up now, his face grim but relaxed.

"Good luck men, Knights. You have two days – I want a complete sweep undertaken. Good luck."

As one the sixteen horses moved forward. The sight made shivers run up Kel's spine at the sheer power and beauty. This was it.

They were in No Man's Land.

They were on the unknown mission about to face Gods' knew what. Kel's mind should have been on what was to come and what they had to do before they could come back to the relative safety of the camp.

Instead the only thought that entered her mind as Streak daintily stepped over the wall was what she hadn't done before she left. She hadn't told Iiyan, Turnall and Francis thank-you for letting her stop to take Tobe back or for riding with her. She hadn't said goodbye.

This silly, petty thought occupied the first silent minutes of the ride for her as the edges of the camp melted onto the horizon and the two groups were surrounded by trees. The stupid thought that if she didn't see them again, she hadn't said goodbye, made her throat contract and her stomach squeeze. Even though she knew that it was indeed a stupid, petty, pointless thought. There was no going back now.

* * *

"Where are you going milord?" One of Cleon's men asked quietly twenty minutes into the ride. "Shouldn't we be veering due north-east by now?"

"Yes Sergeant but we're going to ride straight on for present and then straight east soon." Kel silently listened to Cleon giving his orders. His voice was steady and authoritative as it had never been when he was younger – even as a green knight.

"Begging your pardon Sir Cleon," Another of his men cleared his throat quietly. "But why?"

For a moment the group galloped on in silence and the man got no answer. The pounding of the horses' hooves was slightly muffled by the wet earth but the regular pounding was still present and Kel had aligned her heart beat and breathing to it as she always did when she was nervous, as she had been taught by the Yamani's.

"Safety in numbers sir; there are eight of us in a group. Together we number sixteen – are we not better riding together to where we part ways then ride straight along the edges of the areas between ours and Lady Kel's?"

Cleon's area was indeed nearby to Kel's, a fact which affected her more than she liked. There was one between theirs, meaning that they would not have to ride all the way together, but they would have to for a good distance. Not that Kel was letting her personal feelings affect her work, because she knew she wasn't... she just didn't enjoy spending time with the grown-up Cleon as much as she had with the man-child Cleon.

And as much as she would rather remain silent for the whole ride, Kel knew that it would impolite and unprofessional to ignore a fellow Knight who was going out of his way to make sure that they all remained safe together.

"A very good idea Sir Cleon..." Kel sarcastically replied, a little reluctantly. Durg chuckled behind her quietly as if he could read her thoughts. Kel flushed slightly and hoped that only her men on the left had heard her and not the Knight and group on her right. That wouldn't be very professional.

"I have not seen you in a while Lady Keladry... Kel..." Cleon muttered quietly in an attempt to lesson how much their soldiers heard. Yet Kel knew that without a wind and at the pace they were travelling, his efforts would be in vain.

"I've been very busy as I'm sure you have been too Cleon."

_God why did it have to be so awkward,_ she thought.

"Of course, of course; it's just... as a Knight I would have thought I'd have seen more of you... I miss you." Kel groaned internally, pushing Streak forward slightly more.

"Well I don't go to the Midwinter celebrations if I can help it – I prefer to celebrate privately with my son."

"Yes," Cleon said awkwardly. "I heard you'd, adopted..."

"How is your wife?" Kel demanded quickly and with a sharp tone making it clear to all that were listening that her son was not a good topic for the Knight to pursue.

Someone on her left laughed once and then smothered it quickly, causing the soldier to cough and choke. Kel would have wagered her glaive and Griffin that it was Jowal but she didn't turn, choosing to ignore it.

"She's fine. She's stays in town with her mother most of the year now; my brother remains at Kennan with his family for the moment."

"I am glad..."

Silence filled the space between the two that had once been so close. There was so much history between them, Kel though wryly. No wonder it was awkward. She hoped that Cleon wouldn't try and continue, but he cleared his throat and continued.

"Yes... My mother passed away last year so someone needs to look out for our people."

"I am sorry Cleon," Kel answered sincerely. His mother had been a dragon but she wouldn't wish such loss and grief on anyone.

"I'm not!" Cleon laughed bitterly. "That woman has been hell bent on controlling me and my brother ever since our father died. With her gone, we finally get to act like men."

Kel didn't know how to answer such a remark, so she remained silence; her gut telling her that there was something that Cleon was trying to say, something that he was stumbling over.

"I've missed you, you know?" Cleon lowered his voice further to no effect. Even Frayton on Kel's far left would be able to hear every single word, and no doubt every man on his right too.

"Cleon – do you really think this is the time to say this? And that it needs saying? You're married for the goddess' sake."

"I know..." Cleon sighed.

"There's no point throwing a tantrum about it now."

"I'm not; it's just I never wanted to marry Ceceliana. Seeing you brings it all back."

"Maybe we shouldn't then?" Kel replied gently. She slowed her horse. "Maybe we should just leave it all to rest and say nothing more..."

"But I don't want-" Cleon began but Kel waved her hand to stop him.

"You can't have everything Cleon," Kel said bitterly. "There's nothing you can do about it now..."

Cleon didn't reply and after what felt like several lifetimes, they reached the point that on their maps signalled the edge of the space between their two areas. With very few words of farewell, Kel's group departed and started riding directly west down the boundary.

Once Cleon and his group could no longer be seen, Kel exploded.

"Stupid arrogant man; did he think I'd come crawling back! Did he think I'd become a mistress simply because the wife his mother decreed bores him, and the old battleaxe herself is gone to threaten him! How dare he? How dare he!"

Her men laughed loudly. When Kel suddenly spun her horse round and looked at each one of them hard for a moment, fire ignited within her eyes, they stopped. The sight of their leader in a rage was both fearsome and awesome. Durg pulled his horse forward slowly, daring Kel to challenge him as amusement filled his gaze.

"What is a matter Lady Knight? Do you not get such propositions on every mission?"

At the playful teasing tone in his voice the other men started to laugh again. With a growl of rage and frustration Kel turned back around and headed back along the border, riding slightly ahead of the men on her own. They let her go. Qeyran shook his head at Hared grinning.

"I pity the fool if he thinks that he could simply beckon that woman back. She'll kill him if he suggests that again..."

"I know." Hared answered chuckling. "The man is clinically insane make no mistake, if he thinks our Lady Knight would accept such a kind and gracious offer..."

* * *

The moment the ground turned spongy suddenly beneath the horse feet Kel had noticed. Their dull clatters had been reduced to a resounding echo of a thud, sounding far away. It was very strange. If this was not a clear marker that they were nearing the Tyran Swamps, the changes in the flora certainly were. The trees grew taller and lost some of their branches, retaining only those higher up. They became thin and spindly, shedding pine needles everywhere which mingled with the sparse covering of leaves from the ground level shrubbery. There was no grass anymore; only dirt and dead foliage in various stages of decay.

Another strange change was the way that the puddles had disappeared, Kel had noted too. Where earlier there had been collections of the rain water from the night before on the ground, and a little mud to be wary of, it now seemed that the water all drained away like through a sieve. At the edge of the stream the men and Kel stood, and looked dazed at the entrance of the torrent of gushing water. It didn't come from below ground; there was a bulge above the head of the stream where one layer of soil pulled away from the one below it and for a short distance, before the darkness consumed it, water could be seen running in a hollow between the two. It was like they were riding and walking on a giant, but delicate, tea strainer.

It had become deathly silent now too.

There was no noise at all. Not even a hint of it.

Where before they could always count on there being a rustle of leaves or wind or animal calls within the woodland; now there was nothing. Even the stream made no noise – though it certainly seemed to gush out of the ground. It was like the soil deadened the sound – consumed the utterances of the water and draining them away just as the surface soil did with the water itself. It was all very strange.

Kel wondered what would happen if you screamed in this place. Would the sound continue upwards to the skies with the trees, or would the soil, earth and water drag the sound back, consuming it? Like a giant mouth constantly feeding off the landscape, the swamps became a black-hole, a dead zone, to Kel. It made her on edge and uneasy.

Kel and her men tied their horses to the trees surrounding the head of the stream; the very north western corner of their fifty kilometres, and sat down to rest for a moment. It would not do to rush into the sweeping exercise, miss something and make themselves ill in the process.

One man drew water from the stream gingerly, dropped a miniscule drip of the charmed water safe into the pot, and then put it to boil once assured it was safe on Yansor and Wellam's campfire. The eight of them sat round the fire drawing a little extra warmth into their temperate bodies; they were neither hot nor cold in this place, such as was the deadened air within it – dull and heavy.

Everyone was silently drinking thankfully from their cups when the cracking of branches from directly behind Kel made her turn suddenly, instantly dropping her forgotten cup.

In a second she took in the sight before her; not allowing the shock of what she saw to affect her practical, professional eye.

Two archers were perched armed and ready on tree branches high above her, holding weapons with the assured confidence of heavy use. Kel knew that if they fired, one or both would surely kill her. Between the two trees where they were stationed, a fan of maybe twenty or twenty-five men stood ready with bared and raised weapons in their hands. Some had swords, others had axes, others staffs and spears.

The man who stood before them slightly was obviously their leader. He had a drawn sword raised in his hand which only dropped a fraction before it was raised again at the sight of Kel. The man's eyebrows raised in curious disbelief and confusion whilst Kel's jaw dropped open for a second slightly in return.

Kel couldn't speak.

Gods, she could barely get her thoughts in the right order such as was the whirlwind of emotion and conscious discussion that was happening within her brain at that moment.

Standing before her, in armed readiness, was the one and only man that she had not expected to see here today.

Finally Kel found her voice.

"Dom?"

_

* * *

_

Hehehe – sorry for the cliff hanger but it had to be done! You know what you've got to do if you want chapter thirteen guys – press that magical little button below and give me your review! Thanks!

_X x x_


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Confrontation

**Chapter Thirteen: Confrontation**

_Heya guys, just a note before the update:_

_The changes which are being made to NLNK start from here: in this chapter there is only one altercation but it changes the events which occur in the chapters to follow; and so the train of events which occur. Most of what is included in these 'new' chapters will not be original scenes; mostly recycled ideas from the other chapters merely put into places where they belong better._

_This is the reason that all the chapters which did follow this one have disappeared... but don't worry they will be up shortly (hopefully) in succession following this one. :-) I hope it hasn't annoyed to many of you, to return to events already covered but it will be worth it I promise – I hope you notice changes for the better in areas which you can see to be annoying to a slightly obsessive writer. Any who, as the saying goes 'seen as time is all I have' I'll hopefully be back to a similar position soon._

_Thanks for all putting up with me._

_X x x _

* * *

"What in the names of the Gods, are you doing here?" Dom demanded without, to Kel's annoyance, moving from his combative stance.

Everyone remained frozen. Not a single person besides that stream moved; Kel's group remained where they were, stilled in whatever activity that had been doing. Dom's group kept their vigilant stances, waiting for a cue from their leader. The very same leader, who was rigidly staring into Kel's eyes in that moment.

It was just as it had been five days ago; the heat, the power, the... rush... that came with his gaze dazed her.

His surprise and confusion made those two deep blue pools swirl with emotional hues. As she watched and admired just how much she could gain through watching those eyes, she was reminded of long-ago childhood memories; mixing paints in joyful exploration of infant alchemy. She relived in that moment, memories of watching white swirl into colour, blue as deep and clear as water. She saw that long gone swirling pattern within his eyes, and felt the same fascination, delight even.

Every time she attempted to force her mind back to comprehensive thoughts, the intensity of his gaze pulled her into the abyss again. The fact that she had gone from avoiding him for years, to seeing him twice in less than a week was seriously affecting her. It was this that which was eventually her way out of the stand-off.

_After everything he's done_, she thought, _you're still going to react like this on seeing him? Don't be such a fool._

"Never mind me, what are _you_ doing here?" Kel demanded. She inclined her head, calling her men to her.

In an instant they were at her sides. They didn't need orders to know what she needed from them; they had worked together long enough to know. Durg was closest on her right-hand side, as always, sword drawn and ready.

"I'm looking for my men." Dom said with his chin raised instinctively.

"And does Raoul know you're down here?"

Dom blushed slightly at her immediate question.

Kel shook her head and muttered Yamani curses under her breath. When she noticed that Dom's eyes followed her movements with an uncomfortable intensity, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I thought not."

"Nor will he," Dom replied sharply. "I'm not representing the Own here Kel. I've got to find them. He doesn't need a report this time; he simply needs them back."

Kel knew what she had to say, what she had to do, and in that moment she hated her job. She hated having to be the one to fulfil these unfair, unjust tasks when she would as sooner encourage this kind of activity more among men.

However, she knew only too well just how unfair life could be. She knew all about the cruel blows of fate and density that could be struck by the Gods, the twists in life's path. She knew that she couldn't shirk this responsibility anymore than she could any other.

"Be that as it may be, you can't search here." Kel spoke quietly, the sound almost as quiet as the stream at her back but with an assured strength of voice that rang with bell-like clarity and authority.

"Why not?"

"Dom, your own words just condemned you-"

"How so?" Dom demanded interrupting Kel's quietly strong voice.

The men at their sides glanced between the two now and some shifted nervously. It was baffling to them how the man could dare to defy the second Lady Knight; the Protector of the Small. How could he talk to her like that?

"If you are not representing the Own in some way, in the activity occurring here in the name of the King, then you can't be here. This area has been restricted to civilian access for the time being; no-one besides those working under Lord Raoul can be in this whole zone."

Dom was silent for a moment as he contemplated Kel's words. Turning them over within his mind his gaze idly observed the changes in the woman before him whom he had known for so long. A new scar here, a bruise there, longer hair, darker tan...

He was interrupted by a noise from the man on Kel's left. It almost sounded like a growl and when he looked up, he could see the man staring at him with barely leashed hatred and rage.

The noise made Kel open her eyes too.

She glanced to her left and saw that the noise had come from Jowal who was staring at Dom with dark eyes. His hands tightened reflexively on his sword but he made no move towards the other group and its leader.

"I've tracked them; I know they've passed through this way Kel."

At the sound of her name on his lips, Kel's scowl tightened further.

"What happened to Scanra? I though that's where they were headed when they were taken?"

"It was a decoy," Dom replied dismissively. "The slavers took the First with a trap on a wilderness road on the way to the Scanran border, then they looped back and headed down this way."

"You can't be in this zone!"

"_I_ can't just leave them Kel. I have a responsibility. _I_ won't ignore that."

Kel shook with anger. He had the nerve to stand there, when he was the one in the wrong, and insult her morals and sense of justice! She couldn't believe it.

Quickly, Kel sheathed her sword and strode across the gap between them. Dom only just had time to lower his sword before Kel was upon him, too close for comfort at a time like this. She stabbed one finger accusingly into his chest repeatedly and spoke.

"Don't you dare Domitan! Don't you stand there and start to accuse me of anything! I'm here, on _royal_ business; here and now, my word represents what is done for the good of Tortall. And though it pains me to say it – and don't you dare for a moment think it doesn't – there are worse things happening than slavers. We have civilians missing and dead. We have fear and mistrust between nations. We have injury and black magic. _You _full well know how I despise slavers, but there's nothing I can do to help you."

"Kel, please-" Dom's voice was full of pleading desperation and his eyes widened in their gaze. She could feel her resolve dissolving in those deep waters, like sand sea walls against a saltwater storm. She was helpless under their power even though she knew through to her core, that she was tied where she stood.

She was right. One group of soldiers did not take priority over defenceless civilians in any scenario. He talked about morals and justices, where was the justice in taking his road?

"They send you out alone for two hours and like magic you find something - or someone's in this case - without even starting a sweep! You have all the luck don't you?"

A deep, unexpected but familiar voice interrupted Dom's pleading, making Kel jump. From behind foliage between the two fractions, appeared another group on their way out.

With her heart in her mouth for some unknown reason, Kel watched silently and unmoving whilst Francis dismounted from his horse and walked over to where she and Dom had been facing off. He pulled her back lightly by the arm laughing.

"Has no one ever taught you to play nicely Kelhen?"

All Kel could do was look helplessly between the two men; between the two gazes that had her speared to the floor with their intensity. Dom's eyes had darkened and held resentment for the new arrival that used her son's nickname so openly. Francis, although he tried to hide behind light humour and sarcasm, was suspicious of the man facing off with Keladry who had caused a reaction within her like none he had seen before. Examining the two, Keladry wished that life didn't have to be so damn complicated.

* * *

Minutes later beside the stream, all the men of the Own from the three groups were sitting around the stream eating supplies whilst talking in quiet voices. The three leaders, two Knights and a Captain, had moved away to continue the discussion.

When Kel had turned without a word at Francis' entrance, Durg had stepped in and introduced the Knight to Captain Domitan, in an attempt to soothe the situation. Kel had continued to not speak as Francis towed her away from her men with Dom following them.

When they stopped besides a group of trees, Kel pulled from Francis' hold and glared at him before turning her back to them and folding her arms. She watched the men by the stream scowling and waiting for Francis to start talking. However Dom surprised her.

"For heaven's sake Kel, you're acting like a spoilt child! Can't you see reason?"

He tried to take her arm like Francis had done so easily yet found her to be less than willing this time. Whirling round, Kel's hair flowed like a shiny curtain around her face whilst her expression made the men, especially Dom, step back uncertainly.

Placing her balled fists lightly on her hips the Lady Knight bore down on Domitan, eyes alight with indignation. Both men noted with awe how fearsome she appeared. Although simply dressed in a light green tunic with her badge of Mindelan stitched in blue on her left breast and grey trousers, both men instantly took in how Kel's clothes fell about her, seemingly unconsciously unlike most other women, emphasising features which they were already too much aware of.

Her eyes fixed venomously on Dom and didn't falter as she stepped forward slowly, speaking with a fever gained from emotion.

"This is the King's business Dom – I am not acting like a spoilt anything!"

"She has a point Captain..." Francis interrupted quickly in a deliberately calm and soothing voice. "We are here under orders, with more to follow in our actions. We're tied in how much we can aid your search."

"We can't help at all! We have little time to do our tasks well as it is!" Kel said exasperatedly. She flung her hands up in the air and took a breath praying to the Goddess for patience round the men who seemed to take all her sense from her.

"It is true we can do very little for their rescue mission, but we can't do nothing..."

Francis smiled at Kel mischievously making her frown.

"What do you have in mind?" The glint in his eye unnerved and annoyed her at the same time, but as she caught his eye this spark grew and his gaze held hers. She forgot Dom was there and watched amazed at the fervour of the electric energy in his look.

"Am I correct in thinking Captain that you won't leave this zone until you have found and followed the trial left by your men?" Francis asked turning to Dom with a small smile at Kel.

When he broke their connection she was disorientated; feeling helpless and confused between the pair of them.

"Yes." Dom said decidedly with a firm nod.

Kel sighed but said nothing.

"Then we have a few options; the Captain and his men won't leave this area willingly and we in turn cannot abandon our sweeps to remove them forcefully. Therefore we could send a small contingency combined from our two groups?"

"But," Kel said dryly looking at Dom with an eyebrow raised. "I doubt four men, which is all we can truly spare at most, will be able to keep thirty others in line do you?"

Dom grinned sheepishly and in spite of herself, Kel's insides turned over.

"What can I say? We're committed to our cause..."

"Committed or pig-headed?" Kel muttered more to herself, yet both men heard her clearly. Dom opened his mouth to speak a harsh retort but Francis cut him off.

"Option two; we could let them sweep with us in our areas then escort them to the border. If we can contact the groups either side of us or we meet them on the borders we can see if they will let Captain Dom's group into theirs too but we can't just let you go off – others might mistake you for someone you aren't."

"If they haven't already swept our areas..." Kel pointed out.

Both Knights looked at Dom.

"Where do your areas begin and end?" He asked his gaze calculated. Francis turned to Kel, gesturing as he tried to work out where their two plots were in the whole zone. In Kel's mind she could see the map that Raoul had spread out on his desk early this morning when working out deployment. She was in the second strip of the zone, Francis was in the next; the two plots touched at their most easterly corners touched.

"We've only done west of this point running along the border; about fifty kilometres back they started to move away from the wall as if they knew that Raoul's camp was situated there." Dom said finally once Francis had detailed the locations to him.

"So that's settled then." Francis seemed satisfied with this plan which only caused to infuriate Kel further. She felt stressed and outnumbered; unable to control what was happening in _her _area on the mission when _she_ was the one in charge.

"How can you be happy to just let them wander in your area?" She demanded.

"Kel," Francis says and all humour dropped from his face. A slight shudder ran down Kel's spine under his scrutiny but she ignored it and raised her chin in defiance. "We have to do what we can."

"Don't you think I know that? But what happens if they blunder into the same mess as the civilians? Or scare away what we're looking for? Or-"

"If they move them on, then another group and another Knight will find them," Francis replied gently. "We have to do what we can to help."

"I know!" Kel said sick of saying it. "I probably know the men that are missing for Gods' sake."

"That's settled then." Francis said more firmly this time and Kel nodded reluctantly. Dom smiled tightly avoiding Kel's gaze, when he spoke he seemed to address Francis only, forgetting her presence all together.

"Thank you for being so accommodating." He said with some sarcasm that Kel didn't miss and Francis didn't understand. "I'm glad-"

"Kel!" Durg screamed from behind them causing his Lady Knight's head to whip round.

She looked towards the forty something men sitting around the stream to see that at least half of them were on their feet with weapons drawn.

"People approaching from the South!"

* * *

Everyone was concealed as best as they could manage in such sparse woodland and listening to the sound of approaching feet. No-one spoke. No-one moved. No-one dared to even breathe heavily.

The sound that the men picked up on was the heavy thudding of many feet, human and horse. It was the rustling of the leaf-cover. It was the murmuring of voices. It was the clang of metal.

Kel was tensed behind a particularly large tree with Francis, sword in hand and leaning slightly round the trunk in able to see what was walking straight into their clutches. Dom was at the tree next to her with one of his men, staring off to the same plot as her with grim concentration even though he wasn't supposed to be there. The fact that there were thirty more men there would definitely come in handy however.

The sounds got louder and louder as the minutes slipped by and Kel would have almost missed the first of the group if it wasn't for Francis' nudging arm and pointing finger.

A way off to the left was a man on a horse looking straight ahead even though the woman tied to his mount was crying and stumbling along after him. She was wearing a tattered and well-worn dress of a berry red colour although it was difficult to see the colour for the splatters of mud on it. It was for this reason that Kel had missed her.

The Knights and their men watched in horror as from behind the women, other people solidified from the shadows. They were tied together in a chain being led by the man on the horse and were all dressed in ruined clothing, covered with mud. It was as these others trudged past the top of the stream that Kel realised the mud was an attempt by their capturers to disguise the colours of the clothing – more on the bolder clothing and that of the women, less on those wearing blacks, greys, greens and browns: camouflage.

Others appeared on horses and with weapons after the first; they too had strings of captives attached to their mounts. All in all there must have been over fifty people in the group that walked past the men, and woman, of Tortall's place of concealment without even looking in their direction.

Kel was horrified at what she could see. She couldn't believe just how daring this group was, to take so many people at one time. Every other slavers group she had seen in her Knighthood carried maybe thirty kidnapped civilians on one trip, never this many...And never with so few armed guards.

She was stirred from her reverie by another nudge from Francis. He pointed again, this time to the back of the group, to one of the last strings. When Kel looked closer to see what he was trying to make her understand, she had to clasp her hand over her mouth to stop herself gasping in shock. There at the back could clearly be seen, though there was some attempt at concealment, the uniforms of the Own. Not enough to be the whole group of the First that was missing, but about a quarter of a squad.

Francis turned his head to look towards Dom's tree, and Kel did the same. The Captain's hands gripped the bark of his tree as if to stop himself from leaping out there to free them in that moment. She knew that was what was going through his head. His face was screwed up with anger and hatred, his eyes burning with scorching blue fire. He was a fearsome sight to behold and Kel silently thanked the Gods that she would never be on the wrong side of that man.

Then it hit her – why Dom was so angry.

The two problems were connected – the two missions. The threat to Tortall that they were investigating tentatively now, and the disappearances of the Own's men. Everything was linked.

And in that moment, Kel realised, the threat to the realm, and to the captured civilians and soldiers, had just grown exponentially.

* * *

It was all Kel could do to let the slavers and their victims continue on past their hiding place; to melt into the surrounding earthy blur. She felt sick to her stomach at what she had seen and by the faces of the men around her as they stepped out of their hiding places, they did too.

Dom looked worse than any of them put together – he was deathly white but his face was pinched and scowling. His eyes shone and his fists were clenched. He stomped and stormed around the camp in silence making anyone in his way leap from it without hesitation.

Francis was deep in thought, distracted and preoccupied. As everyone gathered hurriedly in a tight cluster besides the stream again, he remained silent for a moment. Kel, filled full with impatience and anxiousness, broke the silence pulling her new-friend from his contemplations.

"What do you think?"

"I think," Francis said slowly as he became aware that every eye was on him. The expressions around the group ranged from Dom's barely leashed anger to Durg's professional calm that only showed seemingly mild disgust at what he had seen. Kel knew however that under the surface the old man would be just as aghast as she.

"I think that we can't let them get away from us. I think if we let this opportunity pass us by we'll regret it later. This could be a big advance in the mission and it just walked willingly into our areas. Plus we know now that everything is connected; if they're taking Own men, armed soldiers, as well as civilians it can't be good."

A ripple of agreement ran through the men and Kel nodded silently along with them. It made perfect sense.

"But," Francis continued. "I also think we still need to complete our original tasks to ensure that we haven't missed anything. Our sweeps are still important; there could have only been at most fifty people in those trains – where are the rest? What if they are in our sections and by chasing the ones who have fallen into our laps we risk the rest... the majority?"

"I suggest that while you two Knights complete your sweeps, I continue to follow the caravan." Dom added thoughtfully. "I split my group up for tracking and watch them from all sides to make sure that they aren't out of anyone's sight for a moment."

"We need to alert Lord Raoul to the fact that the two issues are connected – fill him in on what we've already found." Kel spoke quietly, lost in a whirl of thoughts within her head.

"Agreed," Francis replied nodding. "If we split your force Captain in groups of a similar size to mine and Keladry's, they should be small enough to track along the side of the train without becoming conspicuous. The remaining six we can send back to the main camp on the border."

Domitan nodded his consent to this plan and the three leaders turned to the matter of prioritising tasks and planning.

"If me and you, Francis, sweep our areas as thoroughly as we can in the next twenty-four hours and then return this way, we can follow a trail left by Capitan Domitan and join the tracking when certain we have left nothing undiscovered behind us..."

Although Kel would have loved to have been amongst the contingent to go back to camp for reinforcements, to go back to Lord Raoul, she was eager to be a part of the tracking. Deep down in her heart she recognised that spending an undisclosed period of time with Francis and Dom together would threaten to send her mad yet her heart argued that she should be able to handle it as an experienced Knight.

Domitan looked at her for a moment, as if catching her thoughts as they left her head and then turned and spoke to Francis.

"This seems logical – I understand that the work is by Royal Order. Even if it did not seem that both problems were connected, I know that you two would still have needed to follow your orders."

Francis bowed his head in thanks and Kel sighed as she realised how many of her convictions about Dom has been flawed – he wasn't been unthinking or stupid in his thoughts on her work. He didn't seem to be following past behaviour where he had behaved merciless and unforgiving towards her. He was being intelligent and professional; thinking of the mission and what was best for it, while she was dwelling on personal issues. This was a problem she had never had before on missions. Usually it was so easy to clear her head of all else but her work.

_It must be the effect of present company,_ she thought bitterly. Whatever it was, it had really knocked her off balance.

"This will work," Francis said finally breaking her reverie. He gave both others in the clearing a tight smile.

"Everything that has been said seems the best way to juggle all which needs to be addressed. But it seems silly to leave such an advantageous convening point even though it is only mid afternoon. My team will ride out before dawn to our area and sweep for the day, aiming to meet back here by the stream by nightfall. Kel, if you sweep here in your area then meet us here. The day after we will catch up with Domitan's force and join the tracking, until we receive further orders. Captain you shall follow the train – the day after next leave a small contingent tracking the caravan from behind a distance who we can find without running into the back of the slavers. The remaining six men of your group will be sent back to Lord Raoul tonight so that by the time we join you in tracking someone or at least further instruction will be on its way to us."

"This indeed seems best," Dom replied grinning grimly in response to Francis' words. The Knight before him surprised him; despite his obvious youth the boy was a good leader and a good Knight.

"Remember to stay a half a mile to the sides of them to stay out of their view," Kel added automatically. When Dom frowned at her she spoke again quickly. "It's just that I've noticed it's hard to judge distance on this terrain with the strange landscape and proximity with the greenery."

Both men continued to frown at her and for a moment silence surrounded the three leaders. Heat rushed to Kel's cheeks but she did not look down. She met the Captain's stare with defiance – after all she was only offering friendly advice and observations.

"With all due respect, I've been tracking for a lot longer than you, Lady Knight. When you were still running round in lessons I was out patrolling borders and following slavers. I think I've the skills now." Dom's words came out harshly then he turned abruptly and walked away with his men around him, organising teams to ride out in that moment.

Kel's mouth dropped open in shock. It was not the first time a rude remark had hit home but to come from Domitan even after _everything _made her brain stop. Staring at the floor she ran back over her words quickly to try and understand where he had found offence.

Unnoticed by the Lady Knight, Francis nodded to both his and her men signalling that they should also move away too back to collect their mounts from by the stream.

"What did I say?" Kel said a little hopelessly, looking up at Francis. She realised then they now found themselves alone in the clearing where they had been surrounded by men. To Kel, the space seemed strange after having so many men around her; the fresh air welcome but unsettling. Francis smiled at her obvious confusion and chuckled under his breath.

"You were doing your mother hen act again," he explained glancing in the direction Domitan had left in. "Or didn't you notice?"

"I didn't mean..." Kel began hastily but the other Knight interrupted her with a light smile.

"I know, and when he recalls the moment I think our dear Captain will too. Then he will feel like the fool for speaking so rudely to you."

Kel snorted but met his gaze, calmer now she understood.

"I doubt it – I've dealt with those kinds of reactions throughout my entire career." Francis frowned again slightly at her words but then his face was smooth again.

"Then I will make him see..."

Kel didn't know how to answer that. Her mind reeled at the possibilities presented by those words. What did he mean? For a moment the pair was silent until Kel remembered her wish as she crossed the border of what she wished she had been able to say to her boys.

"I didn't get to say thank-you earlier," the Lady Knight spoke quietly, looking directly up into Francis' eyes for the first time since they had caught sight of the slavers. He gazed right back at her, his forehead creased for a moment in confusion, but his stare nonetheless sharp.

"For what?"

"For being so understanding about Tobe, for riding with me-"

"You don't need to thank me," Francis said interrupting her gently, stepping closer. "It was my pleasure; it was nice to finally put a face to the name that I heard so much about throughout my page and squire years."

Kel was embarrassed and her cheeks flushed slightly.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any grief with Raoul as a squire: I didn't realise he would mention me to my successors. You probably resented me as a squire."

"At first," Francis admitted with a small smile. "When I was reprimanded that 'Keladry was always ready for this, was always eager to practise...' After a while I realised that for the most part it was just another of Raoul's mannerisms. I had no way of knowing whether you did or didn't practise jousting with him every week. Now it's simply a pleasure to have met you Lady Knight."

"Please, just call me Kel ok?" Kel took a small step forward too, a relieved smile in place having had her anxieties put to rights.

"Well if you won't let me use your formal title then I'll have to stick to Kelhen." Francis said teasing her. Kel scowled at his words.

"I wish you wouldn't."

"Oh I will, whether for or against your wishes!" The pair laughed together quietly.

Kel shook her head and eyed Francis for a moment, taking in every feature of his face knowing that they meet little in the next couple of days, or have even less time to talk in the weeks that would follow. His face held a smiling peacefulness in every feature; laughter lines around his eyes, dimples in his cheeks and chin, joyfully arched eyebrows. Even when there wasn't a smile on his face or laughter in his eyes Kel could see happiness within him; he was in every essence a happy soul.

It was only when Francis gently reached out a hand to her cheek that Kel realised how close they were standing. Unconsciously they had moved together as they had spoken till now he could reach across the distance at touch her face easily.

Kel was about to move out of range, yet when his warm fingers met her cheek she was frozen in the spot. His hand cupped her cheek tentatively, as if she was a fragile object or a skittish animal, sending out tingles of warmth and heat across Kel's body.

Francis shuffled forward until he was standing toe to toe with Kel; their bodies touching minutely. Kel's heart was in her mouth and her eyes glued to his. There was nowhere else in the world she wanted to be in that moment and all thoughts of moving had evaporated in her head.

Francis' rough, calloused and worked thumb dragged gently along her jaw, following its line as far as it could reach and back up in a smooth reassuring arc. In that simple movement Kel realised how much she had been longing for contact between them and how much she enjoyed his touch.

"You be careful now, you hear?" Francis spoke roughly as his thumb made a second journey. Kel nodded.

"I'll try."

"That's not enough Kelhen," Francis replied and his other hand rose upwards, seemingly of its own accord. It mirrored the action of its counterpart and took her other cheek reverently so that now Francis had her whole face between his hands. He tilted it upwards gently so he could look further, if it were possible, into her eyes. Kel's senses were overwhelmed by him; the feel of his skin, his masculine woodsy smell, the sound of his voice... It was almost too much. "I need you to keep yourself safe for me."

Kel watched the green in his eyes sparkle with emotion. "I will, if you will."

Francis shrugged her comment off dismissively and brought his face close to hers, hunching his shoulders. Kel was bewildered at the sudden change, her mind incoherent and reeling.

"There are things between my hands at this moment that are very dear to me. I won't be able to work properly unless you promise."

"I will; I promise! It's not as if I haven't done this a hundred times before Francis."

"I know Kelhen," he sighed. "Before I knew you only by name, now I've met you and still I know so little. I want the chance to get to know you Kel, to know everything about you."

Kel was stunned.

Never had anyone been able to completely disregard her career, her profession and her status, and be concerned only with her as a person; her, Keladry of Mindelan – not the Lady Knight or the Protector of the Small.

"I could say the same you know!" Kel said trying to be light, but failing. In her own mind she sounded desperate and scattered.

"You don't know how happy I am to know you wish it too." Francis confessed; a look of relief on his face. "And so you shall, when all this is over and done with."

"Good." Kel said quietly. In the silence that swam around them Kel was sure he would be able to hear her heart beating loudly whilst he studied her, memorising her features.

"Thanks the Gods." Francis murmured quietly under his breath and Kel wasn't sure whether he had meant to say that out loud. He closed his eyes with a sigh and leant his forehead against hers gently.

They stayed that way for a moment that Kel wished would last forever. She could feel Francis' breath warm and moist on her cheek where they were bare of his hands. When she closed her eyes too, placing her hands lightly on his shoulders to keep her balance, the sensations grew and he was everything she could feel and sense, he was everywhere.

"Kel," The way Francis spoke her name sent a ripple of delight down her spine.

The word was a caress to her senses which she welcomed and opened her eyes to receive. He was staring at her again, his head still besides her and now his open gaze so much closer and stronger. The colour of his eyes at this proximity reminded her of meadow grass and wild-flowers swaying in the breeze.

They stayed still and silent, simply looking at each other for a while longer. Through the haze that had descended on her mind Kel became aware of reality again and cleared her throat to speak.

"The men will wonder what's happening..." she whispered. He was close enough to hear her words well enough and there was no-one else around.

Francis did not reply apart from a small grim smile as he drew away from her. Without him in immediate proximity Kel realised how much she had been leaning on him, how warm he had been, how much he had enveloped her entirely.

Turning, he led her back towards the stream where the men of the Own whom they commanded would be waiting. In Kel's head there was no one coherent train of thought which she could grasp tightly. Instead there were many semi-formed ones, swarming around within her reach but she could not seem to choose one. She walked in muddled silence. Francis on the other hand watched the conflict play out on the Lady Knight's face and resolved before they parted in the morning he would find another quiet moment for them so that they both would be able to concentrate on their sweeps.

* * *

After the two Knights began to descend the hill to the stream, Dom came out from where he had been standing concealed.

Having given orders to his men and sent a third on their way, he had returned to the clearing to inform the Knights...Only to find Francis and Kel standing close together.

He had stayed, half hidden behind a tree and watched the rest of the exchange in a stunned and bitter silence, rage and hatred at both himself and Francis building within his gut.

He had heard each word. He had seen every glance. He had witnessed every caress.

Standing alone, hands balled into fists at his sides, he tried to remove memories of what had just passed from his mind and return to the business in hand. Yet the look that was burned on the back of his skull remained making him feel ill; Kel's wide and open eyes, trusting and loving and caring. A look that he had seen so many times before only this time it was directed at someone else.

Remaining in that Gods-cursed clearing only long enough to regain control of himself, his temper and his breathing Domitan began to walk back towards the Knights' new camp in order to depart from their company in seemingly good terms.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Sweeps

**Chapter Fourteen: Sweeps**

From the centre of the clearing Kel could already see men all around her going about the tasks set to them in order to create a camp. Several were dragging fallen branches and sweeping leaf matter to create a fire at the centre and creating benches along its sides from anything they could find around them. Others were pitching tents while a hunting party was also about to leave.

They were about half a mile to the west of where they had nearly been discovered by the slaver's caravan, preparing to spend their first night in this strange area after the three groups had gone their separate ways with individual purposes. Kel stood at the epicentre of all this activity besides Francis, directing men and talking of the approach they would take to the sweeping exercise the next day.

As they spoke Kel quietly watched the last light from the sunset disappear behind the trees surrounding them on every side. There was a strange kind of peacefulness in their clearing; every man was ever so slightly calmer now that they knew what they were chasing, what they were fighting, despite the situation they found themselves in the middle of. The murmuring of her soldiers' voices filled her ears as a wave of sound that lined Francis' words.

Neither mentioned what had occurred in the clearing moments ago; although whether it was through awkwardness or a renewed focus Keladry was unsure. She hoped it was the latter; however in her own mind alone both feelings were still fighting to achieve dominance. When she looked up into Francis' eyes for a moment in a hope to understand his thoughts, she remained unconvinced of his motives either.

_Of course he's focusing on the mission, you stupid girl! _She thought to herself, cursing the long-dormant feelings which seemed to be revealing themselves to her slowly.

Having chastised herself, Kel looked up and noticed for the first time Dom walking towards them looking purposeful. Without thinking she took a step away from Francis conscious of the space between them and the shot of guilt that ran down her spine. Standing there, for a second she fussed over whether he had observed them, whether he knew by the way they stood together – was it different now?

Then the moment of doubt vanished almost as soon as it appeared. What was it to him? So what? Straightening her shoulders Kel defiantly watched her ex-lover come closer and closer, resolving to treat him equally and professionally as much as she felt he didn't deserve it. With a sense of surprise she realised that her Yamani mask had dissolved whilst talking to Francis, without her even knowing. Before Captain Dom stopped besides her and Francis Kel pulled it back firmly into place, composing both her eyes and her features to be devoid of emotion to other prying eyes.

Francis, who was watching her, frowned as her face became inhumanly blank. Inside he had been exulting over his success in reaching out to the Lady Knight in a way he had not believed would have been possible. His mind was not yet able to even put into words what he felt on the occurrence and so he had turned to safer topics, unwilling to let Kel leave his side just yet but realising that slowly was definitely best with her. However mid sentence she had stopped and stepped back from him, creating unnecessary space between them in his mind. Francis had been watching her facial expressions as she explained her ideas for strategy, recording to memory the way she bit her lower lip when thinking and the way when she frowned, a small line appeared between her eyebrows.

Not willing to believe that he had caused the change, Francis turned and finally caught sight of their new colleague and spoke, drawing him into the conversation.

Kel drifted in and out of the conversation, barely hearing as Francis in an attempt at befriending Domitan, asked his opinion on the best way to sweep their entire areas in less than twelve hours. The two men spoke quietly, Dom more so than Francis seeming subdued. He answered the Knights questions politely but did not attempt any further talk. Francis sighed and his last question caught Kel's attention again.

"Everything settled then on your end, Captain?"

Kel produced a small smile when both men looked in her direction simultaneously but said nothing. Inside she felt nauseous but on the outside she seemed calm and quietly alert.

"Yes, my third group have just let to return to Lord Raoul. I've briefed all of my remaining men and intend to take my two other teams and catch up with the slavers shortly." Dom paused for a moment, a frown on his face. "Are we certain there is nothing else we can do until Raoul sends word back or reinforcements?"

"Without risking jeopardising the whole mission, there is little more we can actually do with so few men," Kel spoke quietly. "If we try to free the prisoners they'll know they are being followed and seek us out, and we have too few to defend ourselves separately. If we were in tracking groups it would be a narrow fight against men who may know the land. There is definitely too few of us, even together, to protect civilians and get them away from here. Even if the captured Own were to help, and were not injured, we would risk too much..."

Dom and Francis both watched her silently for a moment with bemused looks. It struck her in that second how similar they were in some ways, and how different too. They both regarded her with the same mix of amusement and surprise at her input to the conversation after her long silence. It unnerved her.

"She's got a point..." Francis said eventually. Kel felt her temper rise to this and anger flushed through her system.

"Of course I have! Do you think they gave me a Knighthood because they were one short that day?" Kel snapped.

It wasn't at Francis exactly that she was angry, she knew that. It was more herself; for being so badly affected by the two men in front of her. Dom looked amused that Francis was getting told off and when Kel caught sight of his smirking smile, she turned on him.

"And don't you dare sit there smirking either! He's not the only one who's questioned my abilities – someone else I could name has had his butt kicked for it before!"

"I- What- He-" Dom spluttered turning red. "I haven't ever underestimated you Kel – I know you're fully capable to be a Knight. You've proved it to me over and over."

"Thanks for much." Kel replied sarcastically and walk towards her tent leaving the two men staring after her in shock.

When she calmed down, she realised how much of a fool she must seem to them for becoming angry so quickly.

_Well... It's both their faults for being so, so, so..._ Even in her head Kel couldn't find the words to convey how she felt. Reasoning with herself inside her mind she still felt flustered and embarrassed about the scene she had caused. _Maybe it's my hormones, but damn them. Damn them both..._

* * *

Having arranged the inside of her tent as an excuse for something to do, and a reason why she'd stomped away, Kel emerged sheepishly a half hour later. Her cheeks were slightly red and she looked no-one in the eye as she slowly skulked back to the fire.

Dom and Francis were both still in the middle of the clearing, but now sitting with their backs towards her tent by the fire. Kel was able to approach without either of them noticing. She fixed an apologetic smile to her face and worded her apology in her mind, but on hearing herself as the topic of conversation, Kel hesitated.

"Things between me and Kel are, well, complicated..." Dom was admitting with some reluctance. Francis chuckled darkly but without any of his usual humour, his tense shoulders all Kel could see of him.

"I'm sure I can keep up."

"I screwed it up, big time," Dom admitted sighing. "Everything else is private but I hurt her and now seeing her again, it only pains me more to see her, to see her this way..."

"Moving on?" Francis supplied hopefully.

Dom only sighed again in reply.

"Kel is something special." Francis commented idly and Kel frowned, confused as to where this was going. She jumped to notice Durg sitting on the other side of the fire studying her with a bemused expression at her eaves-dropping.

She raised a finger to her lips in response to him with a quick smile.

"Don't I know it..." Dom sounded resigned.

"You must have really, really, made a mess of things for her not to forgive you; she's such a sympathetic person simply by nature-"

"I don't need _your _sympathy." Dom interrupted gruffly. "And she doesn't need you messing things up for her right now; she's going places in this world, she doesn't need anyone holding her back or preventing her from working."

"And I would? I'm a Knight too remember; I know just exactly what this job entails." Francis sighed and stretched his arms above his head. Kel folded her arms across her chest where she stood, annoyance rising in her throat where she tried to push it back, against his cocky tone. "And who says I'd hold her back? I find her a remarkable woman."

"I bet you do..." Dom replied sarcastically.

"Captain," Francis reprimanded him sharply. "It's not like that; with Kel, it feels right."

"And why are you telling me this? After everything I've said?" Anger infused Dom's speech slightly making Kel frown deeper.

She didn't need any of this right now.

"It's just a warning Domitan," Francis answered cheerily. "A simple man-to-man heads up."

"Hurt her and I'll want your blood." Dom retorted fiercely.

"Touch her ever again and I'll take yours."

"And if the two of you don't stop talking about me as if I'm some sort of possession, I'm going to have to hurt both of you!" Kel screamed in frustration. She threw up her hands in the air as the two men before her jumped and turned round. Their two faces could not have been more different in _that_ moment.

Francis' expression held nothing but guilt and repentance; his gaze searching her face intently. Dom's on the other hand met her squarely without remorse, his chin raised defiantly. His eyes were empty which saddened her, before the returning anger burned any other feeling from her veins.

With another scream she turned and walked away into the woods to cool down.

After a moment having glanced after her, at Dom and at the other men around the campfire with guilt, Francis ran after her.

Sighing to himself, Domitan drew his men to their horses, and took off in the direction of the slavers' caravan without a backward glance.

* * *

He caught up with her away from the main camp, where they were once again alone surrounded by trees and silence.

"Kel," he called out breathlessly as he gripped her trailing hand with his own then spun her round to face him.

"What gives you the right?" She blustered without looking at him, but he could do nothing but look at her. In her anger her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wide and sparkling and her head defiantly raised. She was astonishingly, magnificently, beautiful in that moment, more so than normal, and he could hardly breathe let alone speak. "What gives you the right to be such... such... such an _ass!_"

Francis laughed a little, quietly, looking down into her eyes.

Kel frowned at his reaction and tried to turn away but he took hold of her firmly, forbidding her to do so. Before she could utter a sound of protest, his arms were wrapped around her back pulling her close to his chest. She could do nothing but move with him to stay on her feet; her feet gliding into place between his, but her arms managed to wriggle free of the iron embrace crushing them to his chest and reach out to grasp his shoulders for balance.

"Let me go..." Kel whispered quietly, her throat suddenly dry.

She looked straight ahead, at his throat, rather than look into his eyes. She knew it would lethal.

"Not until," Francis paused as he put two fingers under Kel's chin and tipped her face so that she met his gaze. "You listen to me."

For a long second Kel looked into his eyes and everything within her stopped. Her breathing finally died, her heart and blood ceased pumping, her stomach stopped churning. His eyes were gentle, serious but calming, all humour long disappeared. Yet they still glittered brightly as they stared right back at her. It was all too much.

Kel closed her eyes and swallowed slowly.

"No..."

"Please Kel." The pleading tone in Francis' voice made Kel's throat tighter still, if it were possible. "It was stupid and petty and I'm sorry; please, please listen to me."

"Why?"

"Because every word I said was true..." Francis sighed. "...But you're right to be upset: I shouldn't have said anything. But I needed, _had,_ to say it. I don't know what he did Kel but I see the way he makes you feel; disorientated, confused, upset, anxious. I've seen it all on your face in his presence. I don't know what happened, and you don't need to tell me if you don't want to, but I don't want him making you feel stressed in any way while we have work to do – you could get yourself hurt... Open your eyes for me?"

Kel considered everything he had said; how honest he had been, how calm, how rational and complied with his request. When she did so, Francis ducked his head further and looked deep into her eyes.

"Are you still mad at me?" He asked quietly and she had to smile slightly at the little-boy-lost voice he put on.

"No..." Kel admitted, and it was the truth.

She wasn't.

She realised that Francis was only looking out for her in what he had said to Dom, and she should be happy that he cared enough to do it, not angry at him. It had been a long time since someone had cared enough to do something like that...

"Really?" Francis smiled hopefully and she grinned wider.

How could she be angry with this man who cared so much as to say to Dom some of the things she would never dare?

"Now will you let me go!" Kel asked exasperatedly letting go of the top of Francis' arms. He raised his eyebrows.

"Do you want me to?"

Kel opened her mouth to reply with a quick, short and to the point response...but then the question really hit home: did she? Did it feel wrong, weird or bad to be in Francis' arms this way? To be so close?

No.

Kel shook her head slightly and sighed.

"Good." Francis replied seriously and moved his arms from where they had been restraining her, to a more comfortable relaxed position.

He brought one hand up along her arm to her shoulder, ran it up her neck slowly and then carefully cupped her face again. He stirred within Kel memories of their moment not long ago, of how much she had yearned for more. Colour rose to her cheeks and heat pooled within her in response. He went about memorising her face in silence with his hands and his eyes, the deep concentration in his eyes making Kel dizzy.

His other hand trailed down the arm it held and took her hand leisurely in his large one. She could feel its roughness under her palm, as well as on the skin of her face, as he intertwined their fingers with deliberate slowness. When their palms were locked together, fitting perfectly inside one another, he brought them up to rest on his chest pulling her impossibly closer to him. Hers was on the inside, cushioned between the searing warmth of his chest and the heat of his touch. Besides her hand, everywhere else seemed to be warming up under Francis' gaze and Kel felt that she would happily burn there forever.

"I am truly sorry," Francis repeated as his fingers trailed across Kel's cheekbones, down her jaw and to her lips; there they traced the outline of her mouth slowly.

Kel shivered involuntarily and Francis grinned.

"Yea, yea, just go on and laugh," Kel grumbled good naturedly with a smile on her face. As it grew larger Francis traced it again, as if he was emitting to memory the way her mouth pulled upwards. "Admit it; there was just a little bit of male dominance going on back there."

"I don't know what you mean..."Francis murmured, not without a little sarcasm in his voice. Kel laughed lightly. Reaching up, she stilled his hand in its exploration of her cheek and held it simply against her face.

His eyes moved up to reunite with hers again and she smiled sweetly at him.

"I'm sorry for getting angry; it's just all so surreal. I don't know what to do..." Francis shushed her lightly.

His eyes, in the growing darkness, glowed.

Kel thought the way they were lit from within put the ethereal sunset over No Man's Land to shame. And all of their radiance was focussed on her; it was amazing. Under their glow she wasn't so afraid and she stared curiously back at him, trapped within the jungles that his eyes held.

Francis moved their joined hands, dragging Kel's hand behind his neck, further pulling her to him. This close, she had to look up to keep the eye contact but it was a nice for a change, to look up to someone. When he was sure that her hand would stay there, Francis released it and moved his own down to her waist to hold her lightly against him. Kel wound her fingers in the tufts of dark hair at his collar; revelling in its silky softness and length.

Francis practically purred.

Leaning his head towards her he touched his nose to hers slightly in a way Kel would never have thought to be intimate and caring, but was. His forehead touched hers again and she released the breath she didn't know she had been holding. Francis seemed perfectly happy to remain like this again; he sighed just as she did. His eyes darkened and his eyelids grew heavy, turning them into slitted beacons.

"I don't know," He said gruffly. "I think you're doing quite well right now..."

Standing there, breathing shallowly through a mouth opened by shock, Kel was aware of every inch of her that made contact with Francis. Warmth was seeping through her clothes to melt her bones, yet she wasn't sure she wasn't imagining. With a new flush to her cheeks, she guessed that this was to what he was referring; the way she had easily moulded to him as he drew her closer. The rational part of her brain that was getting quieter with every second screamed that it was inappropriate yet Kel was all too willing to ignore it. When she tried to draw back a little to create space between their bodies, Francis drew her back firmly.

"Where do you're going? What's wrong with right here?" Kel laughed breathily at his words making Francis smile back at her triumphant.

From where her other hand was resting against his bicep, seemingly of its own accord this time, it rose to join her other around his neck. Together the pair wound more firmly into the long locks at the back of Francis' head as if they, separate to her brain, never wanted to let go of him. Following a patch to their base Kel tentatively touched the skin that could be found there; her fingers moved in small circles then rubbed the roots between themselves, on an exploration of texture and touch.

As Francis breathed out this time, a low rumble which seemed to start at the bottom of his chest and rise slowly out of him was emitted. The noise made Kel laugh delightedly at the effect she had brought forth: she thought if Francis was indeed able to purr, that was definitely the noise.

"Yea, yea, just go on and laugh," Francis grumbled repeating her words with a small tight smile. Before Kel could open her mouth to voice the feelings of doubt which came from that carefully controlled expression, he sighed and spoke again. "Gods Kel!"

He rested his head on top of hers, breaking their eye contact yet Kel didn't mind. She was perfectly content to lay her head against Francis' shoulder and neck, listening to his thudding heartbeat that she had no doubt matched her own.

When she breathed out without thinking directly against the skin that lay over his jugular, the arms around her waist tightened. What she saw in her mind to be his palms, made contact with her back and held her against him.

After seemingly no time at all his head lifted from her again and Kel felt rather than saw, one of his hands move; all the time keeping in contact with her. The blazing heat of a palm was again used to cup her chin and bring it up. Francis was smiling down at her again and he simply took her breath away. Kel reeled at how much he managed to affect her.

"As much as I loathe letting you go, I think it's time you went back to camp." Francis' voice was a little rough from what Kel did not know. "Am I truly forgiven Kel?"

Determined not to pout at his first words, Kel plastered a smile to her face and answered his second question instead.

"Of course, I realise how silly I was being!"

"I don't think you were being silly," Francis spoke slowly and seemed to draw his face closer to Kel's, searching her eyes for something. "But I do think you'd better go before I do something I'm going to regret..."

Shocked at his words into speechlessness, Kel did not resist him when Francis gently unwound her from their embrace. Cheeks turning red as comprehension dawned over her, she whirled and began to stagger back to camp for dinner then straight to bed, she told herself sternly.

Only when she was in her tent would she allow herself to revisit everything that had just happened and the implications behind the words that had been exchanged.

* * *

Francis managed to stay focussed for most of the sweep the next day, of which he was very proud. However every so often his mind would return to the not one, but two moments he had now shared with the Lady Knight. Alone at Raoul's camp only a day ago, after their fight, it had been something he had dreamed about – touching her face to find out if the skin there was as soft as it looked.

He had been so close to her, he couldn't believe it. Having imagined it over and over since that night, he hadn't planned to approach her whilst working. But the warmth and care and trust that he had received from those enveloping hazel eyes when she had looked at him, so close he could feel her breath, had made it all worth the while.

He couldn't believe she had said yes to him; yes to getting to know each other better, when all this was over. He couldn't believe she had given him leave to get closer to her.

What astounded him more was their reactions to each other the second time; yes, he admitted openly to himself that he had been wrong to get territorial over her – a girl he knew little of. Yet the way she looked around Captain Domitan; so reserved and guarded, had made him want to protect her. Getting over his pride to admit he had been wrong when they had been caught out had been worth it.

Over and over on that long ride he remembered how it felt to have her smooth, soft skin beside his. He remembered how it felt to finally be able to trace the lines of her face, her jaw, like he had been imagining. He remembered how it had felt to have her so close that he could burn her image onto the back of his eyelids, to be able to see every detail of her beautiful, carefree face.

Yet it wasn't enough. He had seen nowhere enough of that face; so little that he could feel the memory in his mind fading gently, losing its brilliance. He wanted fervently to restore it. He hoped he would see her that night to give him enough opportunity to last him the next day when they were separated again.

Never in his wildest dreams had he thought the woman who had been the base of all his troubles as a squire would hold such deep fascination, beauty and thrall with him. Iiyan and Turnall had both mocked him about it on their ride to the border, but Kel had heard none of it, of which he was thankful. He had been happy to admire her from a distance.

But the precious moments they had had alone, together, had seemed too good to pass up, and he had grabbed it with both hands. Literally, he thought with a grin. He could feel deep within himself that this was the start of something good. Of something very good if it had the chance to grow and develop. If it had the chance to flower.

Last night had been very different from their first moment though he knew. In those first precious seconds together she had given him the answer he had been longing for, and yet last night there had been something darker there; something more passionate and more filled with desire than he had ever imagined he would be able to hold. He was thankful he had sent Kel back when he had looking back, as unconscious of it was she was, Keladry was a temptress to him when she reacted so. Francis did not know if he had it in him to hold all the emotion he felt for her, nor did he want to test his control or restraint whichever name you chose for it, whilst in the middle of unknown territory.

Until things were safer he vowed to himself that he would not dwell on how good it had felt to have Kel's skin next to his, to feel her breath against him, to feel her exploring him even if it had only been his hair. He would concentrate on other things – in no way lesser – but, as he thought dryly to himself, more acceptable and safer for both of them.

* * *

When the sun returned to Kel's sky the next morning, beginning a new day that seemed like a line under everything that had happened at sunset, it found her galloping along the southern border of her territory.

Her and her seven men of the Own had devised a plan of near constant sweeping for the entire day, first around the outside of their fifty kilometre area and then advancing into it riding in line across to cover as much land as possible. They had risen and hour before dawn and in near silence cleared away all traces of the campsite.

Francis' team had been ready to leave first. He did not say a word to her all morning and the only sign she had gotten from him that what had occurred that night had not been a dream, was a wistful smile as he turned his horse around and led them off at a gallop. Watching the group depart Kel had been left dazed and disorientated.

Since then the other Knight had wandered through her head often. She enjoyed sweeping work; it was oddly peaceful. While alert and constantly watching her surroundings for anything of significance, Kel's mind was free to wander ever so slightly.

After consulting the map Kel had received from Lord Raoul what seemed like decades ago, she and her group turned almost as one to follow their easterly border. And as she rode, she wondered again at the extreme effect Sir Francis seemed to have on her.

Having left him last night, she had reluctantly walked back in the direction of camp in no rush but also reluctant to part from him. When considering it with hindsight she argued that this could have been because she was living with over thirty men... little more than children at heart... and she had no desire to get involved in a squabble over places in the serving queue at that precise moment. Yet her heart was still pounding loudly in her ears, her blood singing as it raced through her system.

Always one to like feeling in control, Kel had not at that moment nor on the day after, liked this loss of her capabilities she seemed to gain when around Francis.

The sweeping task allowed her to explore her feelings without being interrupted; all her men rode in silence in times like this. Though Durg was at her side, and could see the confusion every now and then come to the surface in her features, there was no conversation in case they alerted something or someone to their presence. The sound of horses could be mistake for any number of things in this sort of quiet landscape, men's voices could not.

It was whilst sweeping that Kel was really honest with herself as to what was disturbing her about Francis.

She didn't like being the hormonal, emotional one... it wasn't like her at all. And for all she did like him, the way she behaved in his presence certainly made her less willing to be there. She had never been a simpering, weak and feeble woman and she certainly wasn't about to start now.

Kel and her men ate breakfast when the sun greeted them, but remained in the saddle. Again at midday they continued to ride while they ate and passed around water canteens.

Although the area that they rode through was beautiful, the Lady Knight had too much on her mind to truly notice. The other men with her were unsettled by the stillness that they broke on their ride; there were no animal calls, no birds. Besides from the tall evergreen trees and the odd bush the undulating hillocks of their area were bare. Leaf matter further softened the strange ground beneath the hooves of their horses, and every once in a while the group would have to interrupt their straight riding line to divert around a stream or pond.

By mid afternoon they had ridden around the outside of their section, done diagonal sweeps across its area and were now spacing further apart to ride horizontally down its length. They had found no trace of any kind of habitation – there were no tracks, or fire pits burnt into the landscape, or signs of disturbance.

Nothing which seemed out of the ordinary could be found but Kel had guessed it would be as much. From the trajectory angle which it seemed like the caravan had come at them the day before, it seemed like they would not have passed through her section if they had moved away into the No Man's Land before they had encountered Raoul's base camp. They would have perhaps ventured into Francis' however.

And yet she did not feel like the day had been wasted at all – it was better to be safe than to be sorry and they had fulfilled the purpose with which Raoul had set them to even if not quite as in-depth as he had intended.

The rest of their time in her area passed slightly differently than to that of the morning.

Tentatively the group, Kel included, began to have hushed conversations with each other. Their voices rough from disuse, would not be heard if anyone was close enough, the Lady Knight was sure, for a small wind had picked up jostling the trees. With Durg on one side and Jowal on the other, Kel talked of the area and of the rest of the mission, gaining from her two right-hand men what the consensus of the rest of the group, and indeed the rest of the soldiers, was on the slavers. They talked of what was to come and the changes in events – Kel was keen to see if her Own men felt the same little guilt she did for not following Lord Raoul's orders to the letter.

When Durg heard this he smiled reassuringly at her, turning in his saddle.

"When My Lord hears what we accidentally uncovered he will forgive us for not following the original plan. And we have still completed our sweeps, just at a quicker pace than he intended..."

Indeed the group had ridden hard the entire day. Now and again they had had to stop to rest and refresh the horses but aside from these moments they had remained in the saddle for the day's duration.

At five hours past midday, when Kel had been awake and alert for more than twelve hours herself and was beginning to feel the hardships of a day's riding, they completed their vertical spread sweep. When they reached the northern border, each man about six foot from the other, the group stopped and dismounted with thankful sounds and expressions. As Kel and the men stretched preparing to walk balk to the stream to meet Francis' group, the Lady Knight felt an odd combination of nervousness and fear in her stomach. She could only attribute it to seeing Francis again and finding out what they found in their area.

Suddenly she was tired of such vulnerability, in she who had heard men in taverns and rest houses talk in awe of her courage and bravery. Thinking to herself she decided to try harder this night to retain the control that she prided herself for. Her mouth set in a thin line as resolve took hold, and Durg who was watching her, recognised that expression with a sigh. Kel was too busy in her own head to notice.

As she began to walk her horse back, leading the group, she spoke sternly to herself in her mind.

_I'm taking back control; from now on I'm going to decide when and where and how I let my feelings show._

The Yamani mask was back.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Shadows

**Chapter Fifteen: Shadows**

As soon as she topped the last hill between her and the stream, Lady Knight Keladry knew that the other sweeping party had beaten her back to this campsite. A fire was going in the centre again and a strong sense of déjà vu swept through her as she surveyed the site. Lines of tents were already in place and men were milling about in a purposeful manner. Horses were being checked over to one side, tied in strings to several trees so as to hold them all together. Her eyes swept over all this in an eagerness she should not have allowed herself with the vow she had made minutes ago. They were searching for one particular man. The one she knew she would find in the thick of all the activity, leading and contributing.

When they found him, it was as if she could breathe properly again; she took a deep lungful of air revelling in how it felt to fill her chest with oxygen. She realised now that she had not done this all day and then a bigger realisation hit her. Despite all her doubts, she had been worrying that he would not return. Seeing him allowed her to relax in a way she had not done all day.

"Shall we go and join them Kelhen?" Durg asked with a small smile on his face, as if he knew everything that passed through her mind.

Ignoring this, Kel turned and without answering started down the hill.

* * *

Francis didn't see her until she was mere steps away.

For one of a very limited number of moments that day he had been caught up in what he had been doing. It was only when he looked up out of habit from considering one of his men's words about their sweeping that he noticed her standing by the fire as if unsure whether to join him or not.

On her face was a look of conflict and turmoil that instantly put Francis on edge.

Assuring the men that they would talk further over dinner, Francis moved to her side wanting to assure himself that she was alright and that her indecision was over something other than her wellbeing.

Yet Francis over the course of the day had also come to recognise that if he revealed the depths of his feelings to his Lady Knight that he might frighten her off. After all, he thought ruefully, she had only just met him whilst he felt that he had known her all his adult life...

"Lady Kel," he called as he walked towards her. "It's about time you got here! My men are doing all the work setting up!"

By her side finally, he reached out and grasped her shoulders tightly for a moment. At his touch Kel jolted as if struck by lightning, and glanced up at him with a quick smile before her face became strangely blank.

"Did you find anything?" She spoke quietly without greeting.

"As I thought we might, we tracked their trail through our area. Sir Wyldon in the next section over from mine will no doubt pick up a trail also, and report it to Lord Raoul. There was nothing to hint that all we say in the caravan yesterday was not its entirety."

"Good."

Kel nodded but didn't look back up at him. It concerned him to see her detached but, surrounded by the men as they were he saw no way to demand an answer from her or demand her to listen to him like he had done the night before. He wished that he had not needed to hold her against her will like he had last night but it had seemed she had realised that they both wanted the same thing.

Now he was not so sure.

"Is everything alright Kelhen?" Francis asked as quietly as she had spoken, dipping his head in an attempt to look into her eyes.

"Yes," she replied shortly without looking at him. "As you so rightly pointed out, I'll organise my men and we'll start pulling our weight in getting this camp organised."

Without another word or glance the Lady Knight turned and walked back to her horse, leaving another Knight deeply confused and dumbstruck behind her.

* * *

The next opportunity to talk came only when dinner was ready, an hour later. Plate in hand, Sir Francis straightened his shoulders and grasped the proverbial bull by the horns with both hands. With a little nervousness that he squashed back down into his gut, he walked over to where Keladry sat hunched over her plate looking saddle-sore.

"Kel?" Francis came and sat next to her around one of the fires when they had both got dinner. He placed his plate on the floor as he got comfortable, allowing him to rest one hand briefly on her knee as he took a drink.

Kel, already eating, didn't respond. She forced herself to remain frozen under his touch, although it warmed her more than the fire itself. She didn't allow herself to look at him either; she just felt him shifting uncomfortably on the log besides her and saw his feet in her line of sight as she stared at her plate.

_I am a lake. _Kel chanted; remembering back to all that Yamani training that seemed to have deserted her for the last couple of days. _I am a calm still lake. My surface is smooth and clear; a glassy mirror._

"Kel?" Francis tried again shaking her knee slightly. Kel knew he would carry on until he got an answer, and she didn't want the rest of the men to notice their interaction.

_I am a lake, I can do this. I am immovable and powerful; a force to be reckoned with._

She took a breath and looked up at him, steeling her face not to respond.

It was as she feared, and hoped, it would be. He was staring down at her confused and the slightest bit worried. In his deeply expressive eyes she could see the remains of the joy that had ignited earlier in the clearing, and a twist of guilt and sadness turned in her gut for having to do this. But she needed to feel more in control to be comfortable; this was who she was... and Francis had better see it now than later.

"You ok?" Francis asked quietly picking up his plate. Kel nodded wordlessly and ate another spoon of the stew that the men had pulled together. "Only... you're very quiet..."

"Tired..." Kel muttered around her spoon.

"Me too," Francis replied instantly, eating absentmindedly. After a pause he butted his shoulder against hers and added quietly, "I love night-time; when dreams and memories and hopes appear like old and new friends..."

_I'm a cool clear lake; a mirrored surface, empty and smooth._

Eating hastily now, Kel just grunted. It wasn't that she wasn't affected by Francis' words to her – her stomach was so tight in that moment that she could barely swallow their coarse meal – but she was determined to show emotion when she wished to, not whenever he spoke or even looked at her.

Which he was doing right now, Kel could tell. Her skin was burning, begging to blush and prickle under his gaze.

But now was not the time or place for Kel to show his affect on her.

_I'm a lake._

"I was wondering whether you wanted to meet up again later..." Francis cleared his throat. "You know, after all of our duties are finished..."

"Maybe," Kel whispered quietly. Francis frowned again staring into her eyes, as if trying to decipher her.

_A lake. I __**am**__ a lake._

Kel barely managed to keep her expression blank as he examined it. In that instant she remembered all the instances from her life when she had used the technique with such eagerness to hide, to conceal, to control. Now, bizarrely, she felt like it was all she wanted to show this man just how much he affected her, every single time he glanced her way.

And that annoyed her.

_A still, smooth, calm, clear __**lake!**_

"I'm going to take dinner out to the watchmen," Kel declared suddenly standing up. Francis pulled his hand back astonished at the change in her and wondering what was wrong, what he had done. Kel turned decidedly away from him, taking her plate to the men on cleaning duty tonight then, taking supplies from the men who had cooked, she left the clearing.

Francis was left open mouthed and alone. He put his plate down with a defeated sigh and, absentmindedly, picked up Kel's discarded half-full cup of water. He tipped out the contents with a scowl and seemed to be about to throw it away in defeat.

Yet after a seemingly second-thought, he pulled his hand back with the cup still within it and studied it, tracing his fingers across the wood.

"Kel is a very complex person to understand," a voice from behind commented to him as a fatherly hand descended onto his shoulder in a paternal pat. "You just have to give her time."

Francis looked up at Durg; he had introduced him to Domitan yesterday thankfully easing that awkward moment. It was a good job that he had known some of the men there when he had arrived, having worked with Durg's section of the Own before. He respected the man greatly and knew that he would be acting as a second-in-command for Kel in this difficult time. He was glad that she had someone as competent as Durg with her there, where he could not be. From what he had seen, Durg was deeply devoted to Kel and seemed to follow her with all the good-humour and pride of a father.

"But I thought..." Francis began then he laughed weakly. "I thought I was getting somewhere in getting to know her; to seeing how she works. I thought we were getting on so well..."

"And you probably were lad!" Durg reassured. "But Lady Kel... has a way about her. It's from her time abroad. She see's emotion as a sign of weakness and a lack of control. You just have to let her work it out herself and take what you can get until..."

"Until?" Francis asked eagerly.

"Until she realises that with something as good as what I can see you two have, emotion is all that is needed. Not control."

Francis smiled at Durg but there was no real happiness there. He truly had believed that he was beginning to understand her, was beginning to get close to her. Obviously, he had been too hasty. It was just... he didn't want it all to go to waste.

"Don't think she doesn't like you boy," Durg added with a squeeze of Francis' shoulder. "That's most likely the problem. She likes you – and it scares her witless."

Francis was patting the older man's hand thoughtfully when something struck him. Eagerly he glanced up at his friend.

"Do you want to sit? Maybe you and I can talk awhile..."

* * *

Kel stomped through the last bit of woodland on the edge of the camp, and rounded the corner to the last of the watchmen's posts. The other three men she had delivered dinner too had recoiled in horror at the foul mood the Lady Knight was in, and had barely managed to squeak their thanks to her before she had left.

This time though, her benefactor merely grinned and pushed himself away from the tree he had been leaning against. Through no fault of the man before her, Kel's mood soured further.

"To what do I owe the pleasure Lady?" Jowal drawled slowly taking in the woman who was technically his superior on the mission they now found themselves, and her foul mood. Her features were set with a stormy precision – eyebrows scrunched together in an unchanging position and shutters down over her eyes.

"Dinner," Kel replied without preamble and thrust the final bundle she had been carrying towards him. Jowal had always been friendly to her but tonight everyone was on the receiving end of the Lady Knight's sharp tongue.

Jowal fell on the bundle, grunting in thanks. He sat down besides where she stood and began unwrapping the plate of stew and hunk of bread that had been bundled in hide so as not to release any of its contents. Instead of turning on her heels and returning to camp, Kel hesitated by his side. She was unwilling to go back in the direction of the campfire yet – she didn't want to see Francis. She didn't know what she would say to him.

"Fall out with the boy did you?" Jowal asked with a smile on his face when he finally looked up. Despite the light-hearted tone to his question Kel could sense the dark undertones, which made him even more confused at his words. She frowned down at him.

"Which boy?"

"Don't be coy with me Kelhen – you and Sir Francis. I have to say me and the boys are quite proud of how ladylike you have managed to act in his presence; no rough-housing and swapping jokes now is there?"

Wordlessly Kel passed him a water canteen and Jowal smiled in thanks. The smile remained firmly in place as Kel blushed slightly. Memories of all her time with Jowal's section of the Own, of activities like the ones he mentioned occurring in camps with them in an attempt to prove she was indeed just one of the guys.

Jowal's gaze roamed her face freely, entirely at ease with his Lady Knight in this mood.

"So did you?" He pressed nudging her with a shoulder when he stood again.

"Did we what Jowal?" Kel replied exasperated. He was so hard to follow sometimes...

"Fall out!"

"No, and there's nothing going on between us Jowal. And you can tell the rest of your gossiping old mothers that too..."

Sometimes, Kel thought that the soldiers of the Own and the Riders were worse for gossiping than any noble – if it was worth knowing, rest assured you could gain that knowledge from the men.

"I'm sure," Jowal replied slowly.

His words stiffened Kel's resolve. In a blink of an eye she let her annoyance wash from the surface of her face to deep within her, and gathered up a blank, calm expression to accompany her reply. It was her small allowance of revenge, she decided. If he was going to be difficult and annoying - poking fun at her, Kel was going to show him just how unforthcoming and confusing she could be.

Jowal frowned, confused, at the change in Kel before him. Where before he had been admiring how her eyes swirled with emotion when she was angry, sparking bolts of green and blue through the hazel, all he could see was a cool guarded wall within those very same eyes now.

All day he had been concerned by how quiet she had been, even when it was safe to talk, and it seemed a logical guess that something had occurred between her and the Knight who so clearly was attracted to her. He wanted to know truly what had occurred but not so he could Durg and the others; he had been plotting the violence he would bestow on any men that upset the Lady's cool since he had met her. Strangely, he felt very protective over her.

When Kel smiled back at his suspicious expression, Jowal knew he was being deceived.

"Hey, come now Keladry! That's not playing fair!" Jowal grinned back at her but inside he was frustrated. He felt sorry for the other Knight if he had to deal with the Lady Knight's inherent obsession with control and appearances.

"I don't know what you mean," Kel replied sweetly.

"If you won't tell me..." Jowal continued reluctantly. He folded his arms and leant against the tree that marked his sentry post. "Just know that if you need me to hurt him, or any of us, all you have to do is say..."

Truly touched by the man before hers offer, despite how unnecessary it was, Kel closed the space between them. She put one hand on his shoulder and smiled at him again; even though it was a strange conversation, Jowal had managed to lift her out of her fuming.

"Thanks Jowal. I'll let you know, but..." Looking up at his face she shook her head sadly, feigning disappointment. "Does this mean that you doubt my own abilities now?"

When he huffed at her in laughter at her, Kel danced out of Jowal's reach as he tried to grab her. Both of them laughed as he pretended to chase her for a moment then gave up and put his hands on his hips.

"Get out of here you, before I catch you..." Jowal was pleased that Kel seemed to be ok – he had truly been worried for her. He did not know what experience she had had with noble men but he had seen enough in his time in the Own to mistrust the young, single ones who had time to plan and ensure the vulnerable or, more often, the female.

"I'm going! I'm going! But honestly Jowal... like you could!"

Kel ran from the sentry post laughing under her breath at the blustering of the man she had left behind. He was a good friend and he had managed to send her back to camp in a mood that would not frighten the other soldiers she came across.

As she walked back she sorted through the thoughts spinning round her head. From the jumble one which confounded her the most came to the forefront. Pushing Francis away like that had only made her want to be by his side more. Like magnets, though she longed for control it seemed that she longed for him more. All she felt from the way she had handled him at dinner, was nausea.

* * *

Kel was scrubbing dishes later, determinedly trying to ignore the sickness that seemed to be growing within her, when Durg came and put his hands on hers to still her movements.

"Let's have a chat..." he suggested in that quiet tone of his that allowed no resistance. Kel sighed and dropped her wash-rag into the bowl. Durg gestured for Yansor to take over, and the younger man groaned in protest. He had been standing nearby talking to another man of the Own from Francis' group but as soon as the older man waved him over, despite the noises he made, he complied with the request.

Smiling and drying her hands, Kel winked at him.

"I'll do your turn if you do mine?"

Yansor smiled at her in return and having patted him on the back, Kel followed Durg to his tent which he had set a little way back from the fires under a couple of trees. It was well-used; Kel had noted that the last time she had worked with these men. Durg that told her with a strange sort of pride, that it was the one he had been issued with at the start of his time with Own. Several times Kel had caught him back at the Palace Barracks hunched over it with a needle and thread, muttering curses.

Durg pulled the door opened and pinned it back patting the space besides him in the entrance when he sat. Here, they had cover from the chill of the night, and were able to watch the comings and goings of the camp as they spoke.

Men were laughing together over the dishes duties whilst others were stowing their plate and cup amongst their packs. Some were seeing to horses and a few were looking over a map besides a fire to her right. Kel knew that Francis and Dom, as well as she, had encouraged their men to give their own suggestions on what they did as a group, liking the group camaraderie it brought out amongst men who had never worked before.

"I've been talking to young Francis..." Durg began clearing his throat and rubbing hands together absentmindedly. He was staring off to one side, watching a pair of soldiers who were sharpening swords side by side.

"Why does everyone all of a sudden seem to think he's too young!" Kel interrupted exasperatedly.

Durg gave her a silencing look for interrupting and she folded her hands in her lap, ducking her head. It was truly like talking to her father again.

"I didn't say that; he's younger than me isn't he? I can use that term if I want to, miss!" Durg chuckled and patted her knee. "I call Dom, young don't I? And Francis isn't much younger than him... a matter of months I should think. When was Domitan's birthday?"

"Just after Mid-Winter and the snows..." Kel replied glumly but then Durg's words trickled through to her. Her head shot up. "What do you mean month's younger than Dom?"

Durg chuckled with fatherly patience.

"Just that Kel; it's his birthday next month; making him only less than half-a-year younger than Dom."

"But... but... he's younger than me!" Kel stammered confused. Durg shook his head.

"No."

"No?" Kel answered disbelievingly.

"No," Durg gave her a satisfied look. "You didn't know did you?"

Kel sighed and shook her head. Everything was swirling in her mind; from when she had first seen her three boys (boys! They were men, she realised now,) to everytime she had spoken to Francis; the way he had seemed mature for his age. It was because he was mature, for the age she put him at! He was older and more mature for it!

"So the three of them aren't mid twenties then?" She asked resignedly.

"If by that you mean his friends, the two others you travelled with, then no. Francis is the oldest – turning twenty seven with the next moon cycle. Then it was, Turnall I think he said was the fellow's name; who was born on mid-winter's eve, and then Iiyan – is it? – He says he's the month after. They all started late."

"They all look so much younger!" Kel said amazed. She had placed them all at atleast a year younger than she, a little more than three years shy of their true ages.

"Going back to school does that to you..." Durg commented dryly.

"What do you mean?"

"They all had to retrain as Knights for the sake of their families after the first battles of the Scanran wars. Each one lost a brother in those battles..."

"Gods..." Kel muttered; she couldn't imagine having to bear the trauma of losing a sibling as well as having to change your life completely. "They must have felt awful; resenting the dead for dictating the change in their paths."

"Quite the contrary; Francis had wanted to be a Knight anyway. He had been bound for the Own as it was, yet after his schooling was complete his brother had died and he went to the Palace instead." Durg laughed and looked at her. "Funny how things turn out isn't it?"

"Yes..." Kel muttered, something still not quite making sense in her mind. "They are new Knights aren't they?"

Durg gave her a strange look, and Kel knew what he was going to say even before he opened his lips. She had been about as wrong on the three of them as she could have been. Resentful of people who set her to stereotypes, she could not believe how many she had set against the three Knights she had met on the road.

"Gods no! I've worked with Francis before, Kel, back when he **was** a 'greenie.' He's been a 'sir' for ooh..." Durg looked thoughtful for a moment. "...Near on three years now."

"But they're so... enthusiastic still..." Kel said to herself, although out loud, in wonder. Durg touched her hand for a moment in silent compassion.

"Not everyone has been through enough to get a little disillusioned with the job, as you have girl. And they have seen some things... but you... you've been unlucky." Kel winced.

Durg and his team had been one of the squads that helped clear up the aftermath of that day in the Royal Forest; they had helped to bury the bodies and move the injured and transfer the prisoners. He had seen himself how jaded the second Lady Knight had seemed when she had finally risen from her hospital bed, even from a distance. When they had finally worked together he had noted just how much of that still remained, and knew that it had affected her in the long-term if not forever.

"Maybe it's just me..." Kel muttered; she was shocked and nothing could piece together in her head. As Durg opened his mouth she put her hands up to stop him.

"Hang on a minute! He's nearly twenty-seven you say? And he was knighted at twenty-three? So that means... no! He wasn't just one of my successors with Lord Raoul then, he **was** my successor! Gods! Now I know why he hated me..."

Durg remained silent waiting for Kel to work everything out. She put her head in her hands, leaning her elbows on her knees.

"He must have really, really, hated me! Loathed me with a passion even!"

"I expect so..." Durg laughed dryly. He patted her head with a hand then ruffled her hair. "Makes him an even older page than your friend Sir Nealan doesn't it?"

Kel looked up.

"Gods! I hadn't thought of that. Sixteen, wow... that must have been..."

"Weird? I expect so... Now." Durg looked Kel over as she raised her head slowly, and lifted an eyebrow. "Can I carry on?"

"Sure." Kel replied meekly with a wan smile. As Durg started talking again though, her mind suddenly truly took in what her friend was saying. The sheer size of the wave of happiness that rolled over Kel surprised her. Age wasn't important to her really, but unconsciously knowing he was older than he put her at ease. Must be her noble upbringing, she thought to herself. Finding out something more about the man who affected her so also pleased her greatly.

Durg continued talking about the conversation he had ended up having with Francis, besides the fire. The older man was worried he might have overstepped the mark, telling Francis about her childhood in the Yamani Isles when he had asked. Kel just laughed and waved a hand, causing Durg to regard her thoughtfully.

"You could do a lot worse than that one you know," he remarked causing Kel to splutter. "And then you go and 'Yamani' him... the poor boy is very confused."

Instantly, with the ease of fatherly intelligence, Durg brought Kel up short with his words. He was right! How stupid had she been? Was this anyway for her to discover more about the man behind the knighthood, to find out exactly what distracted her so much about him? She had been such a fool.

When she said as much to Durg quietly, he chuckled and shook his head.

"Well then, it's good you've seen it now. There's a time and place for control Kel, and with young Francis is not one of them; mission time by all means, but give the boy a break. He's on pins now tonight because of your brush-off earlier..."

"I know..." Kel said reluctantly, in the same tone she had used countless times on her own father before in a lecture. Durg smiled.

"Good job you've got someone to push you back into line everytime isn't it?"

Kel turned and kissed his cheek lightly.

"And my father would be forever in debt to you Durg; where would I be without you?"

The older man blushed and shooed her away with a scowl. He settled back sighing in contentment hoping that there was someone to do the same thing for his daughters, that he had just done for someone else's, while he was away working.

* * *

In a hurry, Kel did all the tasks she needed to do before bed. Briskly she brushed down Streak again and fed him. She checked in with as many of the men who were still out of their tents as she could find and made sure that there were no problems. She organised who would take over as watchmen at midnight.

It was pointless for her to try and pretend with Francis, she knew that now. She had to just let it come; if it was right it would unfurl itself like a new bud on a rose. If not, then she would make a friend for life; a good, kind and gentle friend who was a Knight she could rely on.

However as much as she searched as the night got later, she couldn't find him. He wasn't in his tent, he wasn't on the watch and he wasn't besides the fire. He was nowhere to be seen, and it made Kel nervous. She didn't like to think that he could have time to process her mistake, to dwell on the stupid thing that she had done.

But when the fires started to get lower and men moved to bank them up for the night, she admitted defeat. There was a possibility that she may be able to speak to him before they moved out in the morning, for a moment, just to apologise, to clear the air between them.

That's what she would do.

She turned to return to her tent...

... And warm hands grabbed her from behind.

* * *

Before she could so much as think of struggling, the owner of the hands spun her to the left into the shadows, behind one of the tents.

The hands remained on her hips holding her close as she struggled but also as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

It was pitch black. In front of it there was probably lots of light; it being so close to the camp fires. Here, blacks melted into greys and back again. A faint hint of orange outlined her kidnapper from behind where he stood between her and the light. He was tall and muscular. His figure was cast in the complete shadow with no hint of light, the darkest black amongst a world of shadows.

Kel's hands were trying to reach her belt, to draw her sword, when her eyes finally grew accustomed and her captor turned to glance over his shoulder.

She stopped struggling.

A faint shine reflected from his eyes, a deep glow, that was oh so familiar. He looked about to check for any others of the camp baring witness and then he turned back. Now Kel had noticed it, the glowing remained, catching the only shards of light in their dark corner and throwing them out to her. She was caught in them, held fast, watching the sparks dancing in wonder.

The man of the warm, large hands and the muscular shoulders and the glowing eyes, chuckled. This snapped Kel from her reverie.

"Did you want your hands cut off!" She scowled as the quiet laughter grew into a deep and low snicker that shook Francis' frame slightly. "It's not funny! I could have hurt you!"

Francis' laughter grew and Kel raised an eyebrow, even though it was dark. She knew he couldn't see her to realise that she had taken him to mean that he did not think she would have been capable. Even knowing that he could not see her, it was hard to swallow the hint of annoyance biting harshly at the back of her throat. It didn't help that Francis' laughter continued rather than dying.

"You don't think I could have hurt you? You think I'm not capable?" Francis finally stopped laughing. "Do you think I shouldn't be fighting too?"

"That's not what I meant-"

"Really?" Kel interrupted disbelievingly. "'Cause that's what it sounded like Francis."

"You know I don't think that Kel, come on!" Francis' hands started to move from where they had been resting. They ran lightly up her back, cupping her shoulders for a moment then running the length of her arms to take her hands. Despite the damage she felt to her pride, fire followed the path of Francis' rough palms. She sighed and took a deep breath of cool air to clear her head.

"You could have been a slaver..."

Francis' hands tightened where they lay to clench her own.

"I wouldn't have known until..." _It was too late, _Kel thought. "... After... in this darkness..."

"I'm sorry," Francis sounded sincere in his apology which further relaxed Kel's nerves. "I didn't mean to frighten you, but you've been running from me, and avoiding me, since dinner. I didn't know how else to get a moment alone with you..."

His voice dropped to the barest hint of a whisper and Kel had to lean to hear his words. When she could, a lump formed in her throat. He sounded so despondent and defeated that instantly she forgot her anger.

"I have been thinking about you all day out in my area; wondering whether you were ok. Thinking about last night. I nearly damn galloped back to the stream at the end of the day – my men despaired. And then to get a reception like that... you really confounded me Kelhen..."

She squeezed his hands with her own.

"Well I'm here now," she responded lightly, trying to bring the joy back into his voice.

"Yes," Francis agreed reluctantly. "But only by force... but why aren't you struggling to get free?"

"I'm tired of running," Kel admitted quietly. "It didn't do any good... If you had asked me to meet you again I wouldn't have refused."

"I didn't know that," Francis responded pretending to sulk, but Kel could hear the smile in his tone again. "This was the best plan I came up with... the one I thought you were most likely to forgive me for."

"You had others!"

Kel laughed lightly and tried to take a step closer to him, only to find Francis doing the same. They both nearly fell when they collided in the darkness, causing them to giggle and clutch each other like a pair of children. Kel didn't know what it was but, with him, she was lifted right out of any mood she was in. Though she knew that they were both working right now, in that moment she felt just a little bit more care-free.

"Hang on..." Francis muttered and pulled his hands from hers.

He stepped closer to her she could tell; in the darkness her other senses became more heightened than her hearing and she could _feel_ him besides her. She felt his arm reach over her shoulder searching for something. After a moment the same arm withdrew and grasped her shoulder.

"Here..."

Gently he guided her further back into the black space they had found. Kel walked backwards blindly, realising that she trusted him to not let her fall. Then Kel felt something rough on her back; the textured dry feel of bark. She leaned against it and got more comfortable. She knew Francis wouldn't let her go until they had spoken, and here was better than standing swaying in the dark.

"Of course I had other plans!" Francis continued. He had stepped forward again, in intimate proximity to her; now she was caught between the hard trunk of a tree and the hard chest of a Knight. In the darkness her breath caught in her throat. She could feel the hot moist air of his words curl against her hair, forehead and cheek as he spoke. Even though she was blind, she was being overwhelmed by images in her mind's eye of how they must look.

She was glad there was no awkwardness on her part in this closeness; sometimes in the past she had felt uncomfortable with people being in her personal space, but there seemed to be none of this with Francis...A fact that warmed her heart slightly.

"Such as?" Kel whispered.

"Well I was going to drag you to my tent..." Francis started, speaking just as quietly as she. "But that wouldn't look too good for either of us would it?"

"No..." Kel replied hoarsely and Francis laughed.

"Well I dismissed that obviously," Francis went on lightly, amusement ringing from his words. Kel felt one of his hand's touch her lightly on the elbow from where it searched down her arm to reclaim her hand again.

"Obviously..."

"I thought about tying you down somewhere if all else failed but-"

Kel spluttered.

"You would have had to have gotten me down first!" She interrupted, that same strain of defiance coming from her again.

"Indeed..." Francis spoke slowly and Kel was glad they stood in complete darkness; so he couldn't see the slight blush to her cheeks. Once the rush she felt at the implication of his words, an image of a memory flashed into her head: their fight at base camp. It was she who had gotten him down that time. It did not seem like that was mere days ago but looking back she realised that the spark of attraction had been evident even them between them. Kel pushed those thoughts from her mind firmly as her cheeks grew warmer, and concentrated on Francis' words ringing out to her in the night.

"But, this seemed to be the best way."

"Compared to those other two, so it seems," Kel agreed trying to seem light and unaffected but even to her own ears, she sounded breathless.

"Now..." Francis murmured and Kel raised her head towards the sound.

"Yes?"

"I suppose I had better tell you why I wanted to talk to you..."

"You had better-" Kel started taking a deep breath of cooling air. Reason rushed in with it giving order to her addled mind, and she hurried spoke. "But before that, I wanted to apologise for the way I acted, truly. It was rude and stupid of me to try and push you back like that when-"

She stopped speaking suddenly, afraid to voice the words swimming in her head. No longer could she feel Francis' breath; it seemed he too held his breath.

"When?" He urged her with a whisper. His hand around hers tightened slightly, but with only a few senses remaining for her use, Kel felt it.

"When all I really wanted was to hold you close and never let you from my side..."

The words rushed forth from her mouth like the air out of a balloon, and indeed as they departed she felt similarly deflated. For a moment there was silence. Was he thinking over her words with seriousness? Was he trying to word his own feelings? Or was he regretting bringing her into the dark?

With a sudden need to fill the silence, Kel spoke again.

"And when were you planning on telling me you were nearly twenty-seven!"

"Is it important?" Francis sounded utterly confused though some amusement had sneaked into the back of his voice again.

"Not exactly..." Kel admitted reluctantly, glad that they were talking again. "Only I thought you were much younger..."

"Was that why you were so reluctant earlier? I was rather confused by that I must say."

Kel cleared her throat uncomfortably and turned her head away from where she thought his was.

"Not exactly..." She repeated. "I was... afraid..."

Despite the silence her admission had caused seconds before, when she finally admitted this, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She could breathe more easily. She knew her stupid attempt at control earlier had been foolish, that she could have made things irretrievably worse between them. She realised now that she had been trying to bend a situation to her will that was its own organic form; neither of them had control of what was occurring between them.

"You have nothing," Francis answered immediately in a firm voice. "To be afraid of with me. Ever."

"I didn't feel in control... I don't like it..."

Francis chuckled and Kel shivered in the warm cloud of moist air that enveloped her. She couldn't decide where he was exactly, he seemed to be everywhere around her. He was a part of the shadows.

"Anyway... moving on from my stupidity..." Kel said firmly.

"Yes..." Francis paused thoughtfully. Kel could almost hear the thoughts turning over in his mind. "Are you going to let me answer your explanation earlier now? Now that we've obviously got the ever important subject of age out of the way?"

"You don't need to say anything..." Kel muttered feeling awkward and naive. "Forget it..."

Suddenly she felt a warmth and pressure against her head. What felt like a cheek felt like it was resting against her hair, but Kel wasn't certain. Her heart was in her mouth imagining that if that was where his head was, the proximity the rest of their bodies would be in...

She suddenly became certain that it was a cheek, Francis' cheek, as he replied and she could feel the edge of his jaw rubbing at a spot above her ear and near her temple.

"I am not going to forget it actually, if you don't mind. But if you prefer... you thought I was younger huh? How much younger?"

Francis chuckled lightly and Kel groaned in embarrassment at the sound.

"Does it matter?" She mimicked.

"Not really," he admitted. "Not now anyway but I will be interested in hear how that story goes. Now though, the night is too precious to waste..."

Kel smiled in spite of herself, feeling at ease again. Happiness returned to flood her system, making sure that the rational thought had nowhere to return to for the moment; now she was simply here, in the dark, with Francis.

"I do so love shadows." He continued, his fingers stroking the back of her hand lightly in an absent-minded gesture that made Kel's heart splutter.

"And why's that?"

"Well there are tiny little pockets of darkness, quiet and hidden..."

Kel couldn't decide whether it was her imagination or whether now she really could feel the formation of his words on her temple. She closed her useless eyes and took a ragged breath. Accompanying the breath, she was sure she could feel lips, ever so light, in her hair, whispering to her. Then they were gone.

Francis' other hand materialised on her shoulder that was closest to him. It sat there for a moment, a blazing ball of feeling in her senses, on the very top of her arm and then it began to move, just as the other had done; but sideways.

Kel lost all train of thought when it travelled the length of her collarbone lightly, and came to rest at the joining of her shoulder and her neck. She heard Francis sigh as it gently laid itself to rest there on the side of her neck. His fingers, wrapped round the front, lay directly along her windpipe while his thumb was stroking the sensitive space under her ear and jaw, drawing shivers from her.

"Secret, silent, shadowed corners," Francis continued in a dark whisper. "Perfect private little places for a time like this..."

"A time like-" Kel started, but she never managed to finish her words. She gasped aloud instead.

This time she could definitely feel his lips, searching gently in the darkness.

They touched briefly first on her forehead, brushing with the barest hint of contact. Then they moved downwards in their quest; her temple, her cheek, her ear...

They were warm and passionate. They were soft and gentle. They were sweet and tender.

... Her jaw, her chin...

Her lips.

Kel found it suddenly very hard to breathe at all. In the darkness they became the centre of the world, where Francis' lips were moulded against hers. They were the beginning and end of everything. Nothing else mattered, it all melted away.

The thought occurred to her, briefly, whether they should be doing such a thing at this time, while out here. But as Francis leaned closer towards her, the thought evaporated and she stopped caring. She relaxed, simply allowing herself for that instant to just enjoy being held and kissed by Francis; she allowed herself to feel.

She reached up with her free hand and weaved it into the hair at the back of his neck, clutching him tightly. As she did so, Francis' hold on her tightened and his mouth moved faster, more insistently against her own.

She had enjoyed kissing before, but this was beyond that. She needed this as much as breathing in that instance; more so, even.

When Francis finally pulled away, both Kel's and his own breathing was ragged. He stayed close though - Kel could feel his breath hot against her cheek. It tickled and she opened her eyes to try and squirm away from it, yet try as she might he was hidden in the darkness; in his shadows.

Then his lips were moving against her ear in a way that made her gasp for breath harder. His lower lip lay resting against her earlobe and his nose nuzzled into her hair. With each inhale of air Kel could feel her pulse and heart pounding in synchronisation.

"I _love_ shadows..." Francis whispered, his rough voice sinking the words into her consciousness. Kel was physically unable to reply. Goose-bumps were running the length of her arms in response instead. Without so much as a breath's pause Kel turned her head, in search of his mouth again.

Darkness held a new promise for her now.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Catching Up

**Chapter Sixteen: Catching Up**

_Hey all,_

_I realise now that I've probably confused a great many people... sorry! I took down the most recent chapters I've published and they are being replaced in other forms – most of the content is similar but I've tweaked it so that it is possible for the story to continue where I want it to go. I'm sorry to confuse you but it seemed the only way to get things in order._

_I hope you can bear with me - as someone pointed out in one of my reviews - the middle section used to drag a little. This is the bit that is being changed. I'm envisioning all those chapters about tracking to only be maybe 2 possibly 3 so soon I'll be back up to where I was. I realise this may frustrate many of you but I beg for a little patience. It may make more sense for you in the future if you read these chapters again now but if you wanna wait then I hope you do, rather than simply leaving me :-) _

_Please send me a message if there's still any confusion or if you have any other doubts or question... I'm trying to do what's best for the story in my mind so that I can carry it on in the best way possible..._

_The Knighted Lady_

_X x x_

* * *

The next day started much the same as the last. As dawn greeted the horizon with outstretched arms of blush pink, it found Kel and her men already in the saddle besides Francis and his team. They rode today in a new direction, away from their areas, riding to catch up with the men of the Own who had been following the slavers for them. There had been a mad dash as their watchmen awoke them an hour before dawn, every man eager to be actively pursuing the enemy. They all gathered up belongings and followed at the beckoning of the watches.

Riding silently in Streak's saddle, Kel reached back gathering all her hair together in her hands and tying it in a high horsetail. Though her mind had still been half asleep when they had set off, now she was beginning to tighten all her focus onto what the day could hold, onto rejoining their quarry. Yet as they moved slowly looking for signs of Captain Domitan's men, Kel still couldn't help noticing her surroundings with something akin to wonder.

The light touched everything.

This area, this No Man's Land, reminded her slightly of the Royal Forest though they sat westerly of its location. It felt and smelled the same; of earth and growth and life. Yet there were subtle differences: the trees were evergreens and did not form a completely dense covering, more a blanket of thick clusters. They had begun to find the first of the swamps and streams forming that made Tyra so famous but they were shallow and slow moving, for now. They meandered across the forest floor mostly in the clearings, meaning they had to be wary of where they trod. In this strange place Kel felt at peace and on edge at the same time. There was so much cover and also so many places for the enemy to hide. It was unlike any other place Kel had travelled.

Despite the fact that she had already said her prayers upon waking that morning, Kel again asked the Goddess for help and guidance; for the Goddess' reassuring hand to keep her steady throughout everything that was to come. She had also sent up a silent plea when Francis had greeted her outside her tent, but for a different kind of strength.

This morning she had exited her tent to find him waiting outside. He had remained silent as he took her hands between his own and caressed them for a moment. His calloused hands had made her release a breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding, had made the strange tightness in her chest release. Instantly some of her nerves were laid to rest. His thumb brushed the back of her hand in reassuring circles in a way Kel was beginning to think would always be his.

In a moment of white-hot need she had to meet his eyes, had to see that emotion laying so bare that it frightened her and thrilled her at the same time. The early morning light had been playing there within his swirling jade eyes. On meeting them, she relaxed further. All that she found there, the depth and emotion, soothed her grumpiness and fortified her for the long day that was to come. It was like taking that first deep drink of cool water after a long journey – there was no other feeling quite like it.

The quiet between them had been easy and natural. The pair of them stood and watched their men breaking camp in a controlled hurry, having done all of their own packing, without saying a word. The watch had returned and were finishing off their preparations to ride out. Friends of the men had saddled their horses, but they also needed to get their packs attached and get armed.

As a gentle breeze played with her hair around her shoulders, Kel had sighed. Despite trying to hide the sound, Francis heard and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Unwilling to share her true response, Kel stretched and shrugged in reply. Without any formal greeting she went on to speak lightly. Their own kind of reunion had been enough without words to spoil it.

"I'm just stiff from a night on the floor, it'll pass."

With a firm tug of his hand that was both authoritative and gentle, Francis had pulled her closer and around so she had her back to him. He released her hand and took of hold of her shoulders carefully.

"Let me help with that..." Francis uttered for her ears only as his hands rested for a second.

Movements similar to the reassuring circles he traced on her hands were now being laid out on her back, her neck, her shoulder blades, to the same effect. However as well as being relaxing these movements had awoken her; the skin under his hands burning at the touch even though there was her shirt between them. His fingers slowly coaxed sore and knotted muscles to straighten and loosen while all Kel had been able to focus on was the feeling of his warm breath on the back of her neck. With it came images and thoughts of the night before, of touches in the dark.

After a while his fingers had stilled, but retained their hold on her and Kel felt his lips gently touch her ear. His face was in her hair and his breath was now more than a hint of a whisper, it was a tickling caress.

"I do so love the dawn..." he had murmured into her ear and despite herself, Kel gasped as the memories returned with full force.

In her mind's eye she relived the night before; those words _"I do so love shadows" _whispered in the darkness where her senses had been so overwhelmed. Image after image demanded attention in her head and her cheeks coloured at all that had been said, and done, under the cover of darkness.

"Is there any part of the day that you don't enjoy?" She responded dryly but with a slight rasp that belied the unaffected mask she had pulled together desperately.

As she looked up at him curiously Francis grinned. Kel's heart stopped under that gaze and her head reeled. Much as she hated not being in control of things, she was beginning to need these feelings and these moments, they meant so much.

"Not anymore..." Francis had responded, his face suddenly completely serious.

Their moment hadn't lasted much longer but even though, just remembering it whilst riding helped Kel to feel ready to face the day, fully awake and fully alert. Rather than distracting her, Francis' presence and his closeness was helping her in a way Kel had never realised she needed. She felt alive and alert and awake again for the first time in months.

She felt like she had something to live for.

* * *

It took them until near mid-morning to pick up a certain lead on the few men left by Domitan at the back of the group. Three hours after the sun had returned to the sky, one of the men from Francis' group spotted a trail sign left for them under a bent tree with broken branches. Having congratulated the man he called Erick, Sir Francis swung down from his saddle and examined the positioning of the sticks and stones left by Domitan's men.

From where he sat crouching on the balls of his feet, he turned and with a smile that jolted her heart, ushered Kel across to look.

At his side she saw that the men from Dom's group that had stayed back to wait for them had given them and idea of the direction the caravan was heading in, and recorded the time that they had passed that certain spot.

The Lady Knight and Sir Francis' group were gaining on them.

"Not far now until the whole group's back together," Francis said quietly, and for once his voice was not light-hearted or warm.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kel said with her eyebrows raised; this was one of the few times she had ever heard him sound unhappy. He was often serious, on occasion fearsome but never as dark as his tone was now.

"We will soon be reunited with Captain Domitan..."

Lady Kel studied the Knight before her in shock for a moment at his words. His tone suggested some sort of anger towards the Own Leader but why-?

Then it hit her: the last thing that had occurred between the three leaders was the little discussion the men had had about her. Was he truly thinking of that time or was there something else, she wondered.

"I know I know," Francis continued hurriedly with a glance at her face. "You did not like what I said to him, but I don't like the thought of you being around him. Can't blame me for that!"

A quick smile from him was shot her way to lighten his words, and it certainly weakened her knees. Confounded by the turn in their conversation, Kel could not believe that the usually confident and endearing Knight was possibly jealous.

"Do you doubt my feelings?" She asked quietly looking down at the ground again. "Everything I've said?"

"No! It's not that at all!" Francis replied quickly. "It's him I don't trust. His behaviour makes sense now knowing that he's hurt you in the past and that you two... have history. He manipulates your feelings Kel and I don't know if you can see that."

Kel knew that to appease him she would have to open up a little, give him something to work with – trust him. She looked up into his eyes, hoping that with every word that would follow he would see the sincerity and truth in her eyes. She took one of his hands in both of hers and held it tightly where they knelt, hoping to reassure Francis.

"What happened between me and Captain Domitan is in the past – it was long ago. Yes, he did hurt me; first a blow professionally and then personally, but I've learnt to live with the changes that he made to me. And now you have walked into my life and altered it too – so much – for the better. I realised this morning, just how much simply meeting you has made me appreciate my profession and life again. I can handle myself around Domitan... it's what else you'll awaken in me, Francis, that scares me..."

She smiled up at him hoping that her words made sense to him. It had seemed to ring true in her mind but when her little speech left her mouth it seemed garbled and missing something.

"You know I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at once?" Francis joked smiling back at her brightly. His grin filled his whole face lighting up his features and the dark shadows in his otherwise glowing eyes were gone.

Kel punched him lightly on the arm with her free hand and stood, still holding onto his hand. She was so relieved that Francis seemed to understand her, as long-winded as her words had sounded in her mind.

Sir Francis looked down at her hands clutching his. Slowly he placed his remaining palm over hers, clasping hers between his two warming hands. Giving them a final squeeze her let go and suddenly looked around them with a sheepish smile.

With a flash of heat rushing to her cheeks Kel realised that their sixteen Owns men were still mounted on their horses and surrounding them. All were watching the pair of Knights with some form of smiles on their faces but this did not ease the Lady Knights embarrassment. She had done it again; get distracted from her mission by her personal life. What was she going to do?

_Try harder,_ Kel thought with resolve attempting to smile back at her men.

"When you two have quite finished?" Durg asked dryly.

Both Knights muttered their apologies as they mounted their horses and began to lead their men in the direction indicated by the Trail Sign, on to find the behind group of trackers.

* * *

They finally caught up with them a half way later where the four men were laying another Trail Sign. They were on foot – there horses no doubt with the others of Domitan's groups.

The two who were watching their surroundings caught sight of them first and alerted the two crouched on the ground. All four stood watching the group ride over the hill towards them with grave, serious expressions.

"Lady Knight, Sir Francis," one of the men spoke quietly in greeting while the others nodded and smiled at their co-workers of the Own behind the two Knights.

"What have you seen? What's happened?" Kel demanded instantly on alert from the looks on their faces.

She dismounted Streak as she spoke and walked towards the four soldiers slowly; she was dimly aware of Francis behind her advising the men of their groups to rest for a moment and refill their canteens in the stream they could see.

He then returned to her side and as he stopped, brushed his shoulders against her. The touch brought her some calm, as he had no doubt intended, but she did not look up at him. She was focussed on the man at the front of the group of four who seemed to be in charge.

"Strange things Lady Kel. This is no ordinary group of slavers..." He looked about the other three of the trackers who nodded grimly.

"There is a Mage with them who has been hiding the group when he can – he is ill and cannot sustain the magic for long. Shortly after we caught with them on that first day, they disappeared until nightfall. We regrouped a half a mile back from where we had last seen them and continued slowly in the direction we had been heading. At dusk, the man on the furthest right-hand side of our group nearly walked right into their camp. If we had not overheard the General roaring commands and shouting before we saw them, we would have been discovered."

"Who's the General?" Francis asked as his face scrunched in confusion.

"He's in charge seemingly Sir."

"What else?" Kel demanded crossing her hands over her chest and attempting to create a Yamani mask with her features to hide the shock she was feeling at the news of the scouts.

"When they have been visible, Captain Domitan has been using the sneak & scout method to watch them. It is proving effective, but of course only when we have clear sight of the caravan."

Lady Knight was very familiar with the method the man was referring too; it was one she herself had been taught by Lord Raoul. A couple of the men from each group would dismount and follow their quarry on foot as close as they can manage hopefully to overhear conversation to gain information. The rest of the group would spread outwards in a line keeping the one to either side in view, and riding parallel to the enemy. This way in terrain such as this it was easier to conceal trackers and for men of horses to follow. When Lord Raoul's name rang out in her head, Kel blurted out a new question which had escaped her before.

"Has there been any word from Lord Raoul?"

"No My Lady," the man ducked his head in answer but before he did so, Kel caught sight of the faint disappointment that was visible in his eyes. She too felt frustration that there had been no word from those in Command of this operation.

They were still on their own following the slavers.

"Right then," Francis spoke swiftly moving the conversation on. "What are we to do? Did Captain Domitan tell you? Where does he want us?"

From where she had been considering why Lord Raoul would not have sent word back to them, Kel looked up eager to hear what her part was to play in the tracking now that all three teams were together.

"He wants with your leave of course, to move his particular group of ten to follow behind the caravan if you would take over the left side for him Sir Francis. When you appear to him, he will drop back. One of us will lead you to him. His other group he would like to send back to Lord Raoul to get further orders; perhaps the contingent we sent two days ago had got lost or caught up in some other business on the way back and his thinking is that we may have some new information to offer the Commander."

Kel and Francis both nodded absent-mindedly taking in what Domitan had thought through for them while on his own tracking the slavers. It was a good plan Kel had to admit; as much as she was loathed to do it.

"And I would take over right side tracking then?" She asked and the leader of the scouts bowed his head in agreement again.

"Seems our Domitan has it all worked out Kelhen..."

As he spoke a small smile appeared on Francis' face and without thinking Kel smiled in return.

"One of us will take you two the right side Lady Kel and then you can send the group of the Own on their way back with any other information you have from your sweeps."

"What is Domitan planning to do back here?" Francis enquired curiously.

"We have had rather tense moment since you left us Sir Francis," the head scout replied. "The right-side was very nearly discovered by another Slaver who rode up alone on a horse and joined the caravan. He seemed to have come from another group, from what the trackers could make out, and was checking progress with the General."

"He could be from the group holding the rest of the First," Kel said eagerly, happy that at least one mystery had been solved.

"That's what Captain Domitan thought, Lady Knight..."

Kel nodded again and smiled at the four scouts who had brought her some positive, forward moving news. Francis hummed quietly to himself for a moment as they stood in the quiet silence that accompanies deep thought and then looked around.

"Well we had better get down to it then, hadn't we?" He spoke brusquely and turned, walking back to his horse. "Gather your men Kelhen we're going tracking."

* * *

By lunchtime Kel was riding over a half a mile to the right of the main caravan body. Having discharged the men of the Own who had been tracking this side to return to the main camp of Lord Raoul Jowal had volunteered to take the first shift of close-proximity tracking. His horse was tied on a lead rein to Kel's saddle and walking besides her without a fuss.

Next over to her in her line of sight was Qeyran, about fifteen feet from here, following a path parallel to hers and every other man in the group.

From here she could only just faintly make out the sounds of the prisoners crashing through the swamp grass and marsh-mud the slavers had not bothered to avoid. She was confident that these sounds would cover any noise of their followers who blended into the green landscape in their uniforms anyway.

From her position Kel could see only trees and bushes and muddy swamps. The patchwork of greens, browns, blacks and greys made her vision blur but she didn't care. She had settled into the task; one that had happened countless other times on missions.

She didn't mind tracking – the trick to it was to find a way to occupy one's mind to stay alert but to relax the body and conserve energy. It reminded Kel of some of her old Yamani exercises she had done on the isles: a cross between meditation and chess, two activities which she had enjoyed in her childhood. It was all down to logic and control.

At the moment her mind was occupied with Francis.

_As per Gods-blessed-usual, _Kel thought.

They had parted after their meeting with the scouts with only a look, albeit a tender one, to spend the day apart. Kel did not mind though; after the conversation they had had with Dom's men they were focussed on the task at hand and did not need to say anything to the other at all. She smiled to herself at the warmth she had seen in Francis' eyes before he had galloped off after one of the scouts. They were filled to the brim of a happiness that had managed to leap the distance between them and fill her soul with a joy for the job and purpose she was being offered, that she had not experienced for a long time.

"Kel," Durg spoke quietly. He was on her right, closer to the caravan to her and had a hand raised in an attempt to get her attention. "Were you taking the next shift in the trees?"

Kel nodded and smiled back at her friend who turned and spoke to the man on his right down the chain.

Not long later Jowal jogged towards her position in the line. When he was by her side she paused their horses so he could mount and untie his horse.

In turn she climbed out of Streak's saddle and passed him her reins in a wordless exchange.

It was her turn to play the sneak.

* * *

"I swear to the Black God Fertick, if you don't get these shields up I will personally send you to the Dark Realms myself before the Commander can even get to you."

The deeply rumbled oath came from behind Kel, further back in the caravan train.

She had not long been tracking them, passing through the trees and bushes as close as she could get safely with the lithe steps of a dancer.

The voice was the first clear one she had heard from the slavers, and it surprised her with its natural Tortallan accent; the strong and crisp syllables of the north. She thought the man might have been from near the mountains possible, at first. There was a hint of something foreign; Tyran possibly but Kel didn't know enough about the place to hazard a guess.

Signalling to Hared who was the first man in her line of horses by her side, she slowed and pulled back in the group to see if she could see the speaker.

"General, I would if I could but there are a lot of people here to cloak all at once-"

"I don't want excuses damn it!"

From behind a tree Kel looked closer at the space where she thought the voice was coming from. From this distance she could see two men riding alone at the back, a way apart from the last train. Neither had prisoners attached to their horses, which certainly set them apart from the rest. One, riding a huge brown stallion, carried the biggest sword Kel had ever seen and that included Lord Raoul's. The blade was almost twice as long as the one that hung at her hip yet the man held it with ease in one hand by his side. He was the Tortallan speaker; the General, the other had called him.

The other, Fertick, was a much smaller man and seemed shrunken under the heavy and rich cloak he wore around himself. His skin was as pale as that of a Yamani, yet the stormy grey eyes and thin faced marked him as a Scanran. From the point of his chin, to his elbows and his waist, everything was angles with this man. He did not seem comfortable on horseback, yet Kel doubted he was ever comfortable. Off his saddle were hung many different coloured bags and pouches, like those used by a spice merchant. He was the mage.

As Kel watched the General pulled his horse in front of Fertick's and stopped, making him pause too. The rest of the caravan continued without them yet their leader did not seem concerned. He was a big man himself Kel could see; wide, tall and muscular with heavy features and a trimmed thick brown beard. His eyes were almost hidden under hooded eyebrows, brown also, making his pupils seem black as coal.

"I want you," the General continued in a deep and menacing tone, leaning towards Fertick the mage. "To get these cloaking shields up immediately. I don't care what it takes, I want them now, you hear?"

Fertick nodded hastily.

"Yes milord."

Kel could clearly see, that the mage was indeed all used up for the time being as the scouts had suggested. She didn't blame him either; cloaking nearly forty people in difficult terrain couldn't be easy. His ashen cheeks with a green hue to them as well as the line around his eyes, hinted that he had been hiding the caravan for quite a while.

"Good," the General continued moving away from the mage slowly, with a look of disgust on his face. Clearly he didn't appreciate magic and the good it did; it was possible he was only using it under orders.

If that was the case, Kel filed the information away for the next time she met up with the other team leaders; it was something they could use against the slavers if necessary. A lesson she had learned a while back was that if the whole team didn't have faith in the mage wielding the magic for them then they were doomed to fail. It always back-fired under that kind of stress.

"You better get up and do what you have to do then mage," The General spoke again as he turned his horse in the direction the caravan was slowly progressing. "And don't hold us up for too long."

With another gulp of nerves, Fertick kicked his horse into action and rode hastily out of sight towards the front of the slavers. After a moment the procession stopped.

While the slavers and prisoners stopped, Kel continued ghosting forwards pulling her line with her until she too was level with the front of the train. She wanted to see what the mage would do.

Fertick had got down from his grey gelding and was lining up an assortment of multi-coloured bags on the ground talking to quietly to himself. The General was sat between two of his men, his horse pawing at the ground impatiently. His own arms were crossed before him as he eyed the mage critically.

"Dried," Fertick began quietly then cleared his voice. Her men around her were eyeing each other with amusement, but Kel was concentrated on what he was doing. "Dried Farley flower seed that blows far and wide upon the wind."

He took a handful from a green bag and scattered it over the men, prisoners and horses before him.

"To give us the wind's speed. Crushed moonstone to give us the determination of the night's rising sun."

The front of the caravan again got a coating of this.

"Lastly the salt of the ocean's to bring the might of the waves to our deed."

A third handful was sprinkled upon the slavers.

"The dust of a power crystal to give our journey's path power and ease-"

"Get on with it mage!" The General growled interrupted the mage, making him jump. Instead of placing a small circle of the dust from a blue bag, he jumped and the contents ended up in a scattered patch on the ground. Frowning at it for a moment he froze then took a deep breath and continued.

Turning he pulled a black bag from the floor and started to sprinkle a line of the black powder around the whole train.

"Charcoal from the eldest trees in the realm that succumbed to the wrath of fire. As fire binds its prey to its will, I bind these elements to mine."

When he returned to the front of the waiting group he finished speak and added a dash of the charcoal to the crystal dust.

Kel's hair whipped around her suddenly in that moment. She inhaled and could smell the sea, the smoke of fire and Farley all at once. She could feel a cooling breath upon her skin and a deep heat warming her at the same time. She could feel the mage's casting pulling her to join the group. Instead she clung tighter to the tree she was behind to stay where she was.

In another moment there was a flash of light and all the strange feelings had gone. With a cry, Fertick fell to the ground and lay there silent. The slavers were still visible. The General sighed and gestured for his men to tie the mage to his horse.

"Mages..." He grumbled and waved his hand for the caravan to continue. The lines of charcoal, the pile of crystal, and the scatterings of the essence got trodden under the feet of horses and prisoners.

When they had moved a distance away Hared appeared to laugh quietly under his breath.

"Alchemy never works..." Kel heard him mutter but she wasn't so sure. Turning to her first man she gestured to him.

"Take over for me? Pass your horse to Durg..."

"Where are you going?" Hared asked slowly, getting out of his saddle.

Kel didn't respond. Instead she waited till the last of the trains had gone from the spot and vanished from site and then began to move forwards. She ventured quietly forwards to where Fertick had attempted his cloaking conjuring and crouched beside the remains of the crushed crystal. Though it was now not even a heaped pile, she ran her fingers through what remained and felt the power there.

It felt like the deep reassuring warmth of a hearth-fire was burning deep within her bones working outwards from her core to ease all of her muscles. The spell had worked – something had simply gone wrong.

"He was too exhausted to channel the magic," an all too familiar voice side by her side. "The crystal has still got its power; all the essences would have worked, were he not completely dry of his own magic to tie it to his will."

Kel looked up as she pulled her fingers from the powder quickly and dusted off any remains. She knew how addictive the feeling of power could get, even to non-mages.

Captain Domitan was staring down at her intensely, looking for something within her eyes. She smiled tentatively, not wishing to allow any personal feelings to stand in the way of her ability to work with him. She had to be professional, and seeming to smooth everything over since their disagreement would be a good foundation for this.

In their time apart she had realised that she was capable of this, more so now than ever with the boost to her spirit that Francis had provided.

There was a guarded look to his expression and when he returned her smile, he didn't seem at ease. Still, he offered her a hand and when she took it hesitantly, he pulled her to her feet.

"We should thank the Gods that it didn't work." Kel said absentmindedly, still intent on finding what emotion was holding Dom's eyes so still and hard and distant.

"It seems the Gods know that these men need to be brought to justice."

"I don't think it's going to be that simple," Kel sighed replying wearily. Dom frowned.

"Why not?"

"I heard them talking and one said something about the Commander. I think this is much bigger than just these men..."

"I hope you're wrong," Dom said quietly. Kel looked away from his fierce, and the slightly scary, expression that she couldn't decipher.

"I hope I'm wrong too." Kel spoke quietly too, almost to herself.

To her surprise Dom's warm hand wrapped around the top of her arm and squeezed in reassurance. When she looked up in astonishment Dom smiled, a little brighter than before and more open, but said nothing.

Kel sighed and when Dom turned to go, she mentally cursed herself.

_He left you, he left you, he left you... _

She repeated this internally like a mantra and felt a calm come over her features and eyes at the words. Despite the sort of feelings Dom had managed to stir within her in the past and now with compassionate gestures, it was almost reflexive to try and to want to keep him from seeing her reaction.

"Don't do that," Dom whispered quietly. He took his hand away from her shoulders and folded his arms across his chest defensively.

"Do what?" Kel answered confused but pleased that she did not show it.

"Yamani me – shut me out! You don't need to hide anything from me..."

"Don't I?" The Lady Knight asked, both questioning the man in front of her and herself. _Did she?_

Domitan sighed and looked away for a moment, before meeting her gaze again with a mocking smile that did not fit his face.

"And how's our Green Knight doing? Are you showing him the ropes?"

Frowning in confusion Kel tried to decipher his words. Had he always been this hard to understand?

"The boy... Francis..." Dom continued as if in explanation.

The Lady Knight thought again for a second and then as if touched by the hand of the Goddess, everything clicked into to place and she understood. She laughed as hard as possible in this proximity to the enemy; Captain Domitan had made the same assumption as her.

When she stopped, although her face was clear she was rejoicing at the look of frustration and anger on Dom's face. The way he looked sent a thrill down her spine - that she had caused this reaction in him. His eyes were half crazed, the colour raging like the battering waves of a storm. His teeth were clenched together and he was closing the space between them with long, quick strides.

"I don't know what you mean," Kel spoke quietly making Dom stop just mere inches away from her. One hand was outstretched towards her and she took a firm step back as she continued to speak, adding weight to her words. "Why surely you knew that our good friend Sir Francis is but a month younger than you? Looks can be deceiving on what truly matters, can't they?"

Her expression was schooled in innocence as she spoke, wide eyed and startled. Another thrill ran through her at the growl of frustration Dom admitted. The fact that she had managed to make him just as affected as she had been by him on their tracking, made her feel a bit more satisfied. However the fact that Dom seemed to think he had some right over her simply pressed in the sting she felt from Dom's mocking.

"Indeed..." Dom said slowly savouring the word as he watched Kel draw together the blankest Yamani mask he had ever seen to cover this annoyance. Her eyes were expressionless, dead, staring back at him, which cut him.

"Indeed," He said again with a sigh of defeat and dropped his hand. Kel smiled slightly, the smallest flicker of satisfaction in her eyes for the tiniest fraction of a second. Dom had this to take comfort from alone, at least this was what she wanted and he could only wish for her to be happy.

"See you later when we set up camp, Captain Domitan," Kel said flatly devoid of any emotion. With the smallest of nods Kel turned on her heel and strode away, feeling revived and alive at the mountain she had just conquered – facing Dom truly alone and walking out of the scene feeling anything but battered.

Maybe things were changing...


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Tracking

**Chapter Seventeen: Tracking**

_So by my reckoning, this is the last chapter which is slightly tweaked to its original version... It's pretty much turned out that I've inserted one and re-organised the stuff in the others. I'm hoping that by next week... I'll be progressing forward again. Yay! :-)_

_And now I could do with your input again guys – please leave me some reviews ok? Let me know that there's still people out there (lol at my own pleading :-p) who haven't completely given up. I would love some constructive criticism too and you guys are so good at that Hehehe... Is any of that possible._

_X x x_

* * *

Whilst conversation did spring up down the line from time to time, mostly Kel and her group rode on in silence focusing on the caravan. They ate a small lunch in the saddle like the slavers though the prisoners received nothing. While the people in the lines of horses on either side rode on out of sight of their quarry the two, and sometimes three, sneaks on either side watched the caravan at all times though the amount of trees between the groups on either side thinned and thickened many times. At one point, Kel's group had to move further away for a moment when there were too few trees to act as cover. It was a tense time for her and her men as they waited to see whether they would reappear in the right place having kept the pace right.

Towards the end of the afternoon, whilst Wellam was out on foot a message was passed down Kel's line as the barrier began to thicken again after a particularly thin collection of trees. Murmuring to each other, the Owns men passed their sneak's suspicion that the slavers were slowing for some reason. Moving further away from the caravan being tracked, Kel signalled for her men to drop back fractionally.

Under the cover of a particularly thick copse Kel's group gathered to wait for the slavers to move on again. Kel herself dismounted and having handed her horse to Jowal, she sneaked forward as close as she dared to see what was going on. From there all she could see was one of the General's men and their leader himself crouching at the back of the caravan besides a rocky outcrop, positioning stones and twigs on the ground.

"Mapping or a Trail Sign do you suppose?" Durg murmured into Kel's right ear to prevent discovery. He had followed her to her tree leaving his horse with the others too. Side by side they leant again the bark watching. For a moment Kel remained silent frowning as she watched.

It was difficult to say from this distance – it could be either. Her stomach turned uneasily as she watched and she glanced around, first at Wellam and then at their surroundings. Quite rightly while his leader was watching also, he was keeping an eye on the rest of the train and the forest so that she could try to understand what was going on in safety.

Without speaking, but smiling in thanks at her man on foot, Kel turned and made her way carefully and gently back to where her men had gathered. Back on her horse Kel ran her hands over her hair, smoothing the ponytail back absentmindedly as she thought how to answer Durg's question.

"I hope its mapping," Kel answered eventually pulling her water bottle from her pack and taking a drink. She offered it to Durg who took it with a grim smile of thanks, now also reunited with his horse.

"You hope?" Jowal said immediately, knowing her well enough to sense something. Having finished, Durg passed the water bottle to him but Kel didn't mind. When you worked with men like this, you shared everything you had.

"My gut says otherwise."

"A Trail Sign for what then?" Jowal took a drink too and then passed it to the next man. It was swiftly passed around in silence before returning to Kel nearly three-quarters empty. She thought of how the General had sat and watched nodding as his man adjusted his pieces with moments of contemplation about his work.

"You better pray boys that we figure that out before it reaches here," Kel answered then she gestured her head onwards.

"Come on, they're moving out again – the rear scouts will examine it when it's safe. Spread back out again and let's get on..."

And so, though it seemed suspicious, the event was forgotten by many in favour of focus on their targets. As swiftly and as curiously as it had began the moment was over. Some dismissed it as a strange Tyran thing, but Kel couldn't forget it. Those tracking in Domitan's group at the back had looked it over and sent men out to report to the two Knights; they had found it to be calculations for the position of the slavers which also pinpointed their direction and location for anyone looking: A Trail Sign in disguise. The men on her furthest left in the line were discussing it quietly but she wasn't really listening to their musings to pay attention to who it was. It was her turn again to watch.

When she rejoined the bushes closest to the train she edged forwards, pushing her line closer to the front of the caravan. From here she watched the General.

He didn't seem as focussed as usual. From what she'd seen of him that morning he was nothing if not a solid rider; rigid in the saddle without a fidget or a move. Now he was shifting positions and glancing around them, scanning the trees and his surroundings. Several times Kel called halt on a guess that if they ventured forward at that moment he would spot them. Paranoid or not, she wasn't going to be under-cautious so far into such a risky mission.

The slavers were having fewer problems with their prisoners today. Tired and hungry after who knew how many days on the road, they were trudging along hopelessly. None of them tried to slow down the train or to break free as she had seen desperate captives do before. It made Kel's heart heavy to see them broken like this; to see their dejected faces and feel helpless to stop the cruelty being inflicted on them. As they walked the men and women kept their heads low and bowed, watching the ground without as much as a glance at their surroundings. The scout who had brought them to the right side had told her on the way of how some of the women yesterday had been eagerly watching the trees and muttering about where they were. He had told her of the hardship it had been to stay out of sight as the prisoners discussed where help could come from.

But Kel thought that today was probably harder and knew personally, it was a test of her resolve. She would have liked nothing more than to ride an ambush on the caravan screaming blue murder to frighten decades off these slavers' lives. There weren't that many of them after all, surely they could take them?

Then she remembered with hatred and bile hitting the back of her throat – they were the bait to take down the whole stack of cards on this scheme, at least until help arrived. Sometimes Kel had to just think little of what she was doing, to make it through the day.

It was as she was staring at the nearest string of captives to her that she heard faint crashing from the bushes they had passed through moments before, nearer to the back group's position.

Having glanced to see if the General or any of his men had heard – they hadn't – she pulled her line to a halt and split it; she sent Hared forward to continue in her place on foot with three men in his line. Kel herself and the three others moved towards the back to see what the problem was with the rear party that risked them being discovered.

Uneasy to go too far back Kel paused again when the caravan went out of focus, for the noise seemed to be getting louder anyway. She drew her men in a group behind her listening and waiting. Trees and brushes swayed faintly in the breeze, their foliage flashing a multitude of green hues in the sunlight. Quiet birdcalls could be heard from somewhere high above but Kel had seen very few creatures since arriving in this strange land. How their hunting party ever found meat for them every night she would never know.

"There!" Durg whispered urgently and pointed far out slightly to the left of them. From where Kel's men had stopped the ground sloped downwards away from them then up again to create a slight valley. Their hillock was raised just enough that they had a slightly more elevated view of the pressing trees around them. Yet they could all see the two men from the rear party when they appeared, riding hastily towards them in a frantic trot, unable to go any quicker for fear of alerting the enemy and because of the terrain. The men on the horses had anxious looks on their faces but when they caught site of Kel's team who started to make for them they shook their heads and gestured for them to remain there.

Kel frowned but did as the men requested watching as more from Dom's team rode into view. Amongst them, Dom himself, glancing behind frequently and gesturing wildly to the men around him. Then his team were bunching together on the opposite side from Kel's side where the ground began to rise again, and were gathering in a particularly dense cover of trees similar to the one around Kel. Many of the men melted from her gaze with the colours they wore and the camouflage blankets they carried to throw over the horses. Shortly before Dom headed up the slope after, he paused to look back again for a longer moment. He seemed to be looking for something but failing that he turned his horse around slowly without sound, and caught sight of Kel's team.

He sat shocked for a second before jumping into action again. Without taking a step towards them he began to signal for them to move out, back the way they came. His eyes were wide and pleading as they held Kel's and she signalled back immediately asking what was wrong.

_Scouts, _came the reply. _Another group. You're in clear view - move!_

Dom's news froze her in her seat. Another team of slavers? Surely not, but Dom claimed to being followed by their forward Scouts. Surely someone would have noticed two bands of slavers in this area? Her blood boiled at the thought-

"Kel, what are we doing?" Jowal asked gently nudging her with an elbow, shaking her from her reverie.

Immediately her attention snapped back to the present and she sat up straighter in her saddle as she divulged orders to her boys.

"I want you all to move back on up our path, get back to the caravan. I'll stay and catch up in a moment when I've assessed what's happening."

"I'm staying with you then," Durg said sternly in his most paternal voice that allowed for no questioning. Kel dipped her head for a moment at this but she knew there was nothing she could say to make him change his mind.

"Me too..." Jowal whispered quietly a heartbeat later.

"No, you're going – I want you in charge in case... well just go! And keep it quiet please?"

Kel shook her head firmly at Jowal but smiled sweetly to each of her boys as they filed passed to lighten the situation. It was the only way to deal with crazy things like this that occurred on missions.

With the remainder of her team gone she and Durg concealed themselves the best they could in the trees and bushes atop the hill. Durg had dismounted before others of the group had left, and they had taken his horse with them. Now all remained was for them to conceal themselves; Durg crouched on the ground, and in his green uniform, merged to be part of the bushels he was surrounded by. Kel leaned heavily against one of the trees and peeped round to see the opposite side. Dom was also leaning out and looking at her location reproachfully when he spotted her.

_How many, _she signalled ignoring his hard stare with determined focus.

_Two squads of four; behind and to the west._

Kel's heart leapt into her throat. There was Scouts approaching Francis from behind as well. Who knew whether he had spotted his and been able to get his line out of the way in time too? Kel felt helpless to help either team against this unknown approaching enemy. She couldn't bring her team to their aid if they were discovered, without alerting the slavers or their new foe, to another of their positions. All she could do was watch and hope that they had solved the problem themselves.

A chorus of loud laughing male voices and crash of foliage heralded the forward Scouts arrival to Kel, Durg and Dom's squad. With a last desperate look at Dom not that far away but with a wide expanse between them, Kel dived back behind her tree to wait out the Scouts' passing.

The voices got louder, indicating to the keen ears of all the military men, and woman, the Scouts' entrance into their area. Kel's breath caught in her throat. If they were found now it would be a fight to the death to prevent detection, and she hated killing seemingly innocents. Yes, they were with the slavers, but that didn't meant they had any part in the actual deed – they may just be employed to guard the slavers themselves, how did she know?

"It can't be much longer until we reach the strong hold can it?" One groaned to the other three. "Riding in the saddle with these miserable commoners is more than a man can bare..."

Another laughed but Kel wasn't listening enough to get angry at their words. Her thoughts were focussed on what be happening less than a mile away, on Francis' side of the caravan. Would he have noticed in time? Would everyone get out alive? Would anyone be taken? Her heart was beating loudly as she tried to shake the image of Francis' face out of her mind where it was creating searing pain. She was concentrating hard on that, so hard that for a moment she forgot why they were hiding and nearly shrieked when a pair of strong arms pulled her away from her tree suddenly.

Her captor must have realised she was about to shriek, for he clamped a hand over her mouth and hissed at her to be quiet. She had been so contemplative on her thoughts that it took her almost a minute to rid herself of the burning shivers of pain in her spine and to focus enough to recognise the man who had grabbed her. When she did however she reached up and tugged his hot hand from over her mouth and twisted in his vicelike grip to scowl up at him.

"Dom!" Kel gasped in annoyance and confusion. She stared around at his group who were bunched around her and at Durg; some grinning in grim amusement at sneaking up on her, other panting to catch their breath, others putting away their camouflage blankets.

It seemed, as swiftly as the danger had appeared, it had passed.

"You're a fool to have stayed you know that!" Dom demanded ignoring her complaints and shaking her slightly. "Why didn't you leave with your group?"

"I had to assess what was going on didn't I," she answered desperately struggling slightly in his hands. They were clasped on her arms and tightening. Her mouth twisted at the complainings of her muscles as his knuckles went white from the pressure, she wouldn't say anything though; she refused to let him intimidate her.

"Dom you're hurting her," Durg said quietly watching their exchange.

Instantly, Dom released her and turned away running his hands through his hair desperately. Suddenly feeling vulnerable with so much space around her Kel looked at the large amount of men around her and voiced her confusion.

"Why are you all over here?"

"It's not safe over there now," Dom answered quietly turning back slowly. "The groups those forward Scouts belong to will be coming through that way soon and seen as you've had none from this side, it'll be the safest place. No doubt Sir Francis will send as many of his men across as he can, as soon as he can."

Kel nodded silently turning everything over. Her heart and her breathing had calmed now from her fright and she frowned at what this new development meant. The caravan would be getting bigger; that meant more men guarding it. Durg cleared his throat lightly and she looked up. Every man standing there was watching her; some with patience, some with good humour, others with mild amusement. Dom's gaze however was intense and none of these three.

"Everyone catch up with the rest of my team and pull them back to about three miles to our lefts for the moment till we are all regrouped. Send a smaller group, maybe six to continue tracking but there'll be too many of us soon to follow on one side..."

Silently their men moved out, Durg included, now that the danger was passed. He trusted her out of his sight but in times of need he stuck besides her like glue. This left Dom and Kel wordlessly staring at each other alone, in the tight copse of trees atop the hill.

Under his eyes Kel felt hot and uncomfortable. She was the first to break eye-contact, looking away nervously and clearing her throat. When she looked back Domitan was still watching her seriously. His intensity made her unwilling to speak, unwilling to share the words that she wanted to say – the truth. This made her somewhat slightly annoyed: why should he make her hold her tongue? Who was he?

With this resolve settled Kel raised her head and squared her shoulders, and took a step closer to the Captain. She looked up into his carefully guarded and closed face and smiled tentatively. This was another thing Francis had given her – no longer did she feel like she had to walk around Dom on tip-toe. They had tried but it hadn't worked. Plus he had broken it off not her, what did she have to feel guilty for? Francis had helped her to take that first step to moving on after Domitan. Of course he could still affect her, like the way those piercing blue eyes were making her pulse jump in a slightly erratic rhythm, but she knew that there was more to gain from life. There was the acceptance, such as Francis offered.

"I'm so relieved you're ok," Kel admitted quietly with another smile, yet Dom frowned more. His eyes searched every feature of her face, even stepping in closer. Kel remained still, knowing that to step away now would burn any still-standing bridges she had with her old friend.

He was so close to her Kel believed she could feel his body heat emanating off of him, feel the slightest hint of his chest brushing against her arm. His face was so close to hers; being several inches taller he had to stoop down to look into her eyes as intently as he was doing, making Kel feel like he was trying to understand her soul.

"Why?" He muttered brokenly; a deep and dark word uttered out of frustration and bitterness.

With that one word he turned and led his horse up the path to where their troops would be waiting, leaving Kel to follow along despondently behind.

* * *

When they finally, and several moments apart, caught up with their troops they found that Francis' team had indeed joined them and had just arrived. The men that were still missing were mostly from her group – only Durg was in the clearing. Jowal had clearly taken it upon himself to continue watching the caravan. Everyone else was there however, in a clearing away from where they had left the caravan like she had said. Men were sitting together on tree stumps and the ground, eating dried berries that they had produced from their packs and sharing stories on what the morning had brought.

Kel entered the clearing in time to see Dom lead his horse to the furthest point from where she had just entered, and start to give his horse a rub down. She paused there, unsure whether to approach him again or whether to leave him, clearly stewing in his own juices.

The decision was made for her when the only other man on his feet approached her with a loud sigh of relief. Francis grasped the tops of her arms gently and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly.

"Thank the Gods! When I saw Durg and no you, I was beginning to wonder..." For a moment Kel was confused and disorientated; she wanted to push Francis away but at the same time she also wanted to wriggle tighter into his embrace. "...Where were you?"

When Francis paused she caught up with what he had been saying. She answered quietly without meeting his eyes. By looking at the ground she was trying not to look over his shoulder and check if Dom was seeing the way that Francis treated her, the way that Francis was holding her and talking to her.

"I was trying to see how much danger there was."

"By putting yourself amongst it?" Francis asked sighing and shaking his head.

After a moment though, he shrugged off this feeling and smiled at her warmly again. When she didn't answer he put a hand under her chin and raised it to meet his gaze.

"Hey you," he murmured warmly when they eyes finally met. He pulled her closer, albeit the fact that they were surrounded by their men, many of whom were watching and exchanging amused glances, and wrapped one arm around her waist then tangling his remaining hand in her hair.

"I'm so glad you didn't get yourself killed..." Francis murmured his eyes memorising her face intently. His words finally broke through Kel's internal battle that was raging, giving victory to his side. She smiled widely back at him and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Well that's fortunate isn't it?" She replied dryly making him laugh. She continued on in a more serious tone. "Did you have any trouble?"

Francis shook his head with a small smile. As he spoke his free hand moved to stroke her cheek, her neck, her shoulder. It played with her hair; rubbing strands between its fingers, feeling the texture of it. Kel sighed like a contented cat at his efforts and Dom dropped completely from her mind. She felt calm again, after the drama of the last hour.

"One of my men spotted them when out on the end of the line..." he continued awkwardly with a nod of his head in the direction of his team. "We circled them as they approached to get behind then headed this way as soon as one of Dom's men told us of their Forward Scouts."

Kel nodded, no words were needed. After a silent second staring at each other, Kel laid her head on Francis' chest content to be in his arms for the moment regardless of what the men would think. They were worse than women for gossiping she supposed, so at least they all knew now and it was out in the open. She just needed a minute before they started organising what to do next.

Francis stroked Kel's hair as she rested and wrapped his arms around her tighter, content to just hold her, but happy at her willingness to be so open in front of all their men. Several of those who walked past smiled or winked at him yet he just firmly fixed a benign grin on his face, uncaring at what any of them said. The only person that mattered was resting in his arms.

Dom stared hard from behind his horse at the embracing couple and felt again the piercing sense of loss for all that he had walked away from years before, but had always regretted. It was difficult to stomach seeing Kel, being able to get so close to her again but never to hold her like that. Never be able to touch her like he used to. Someone else got that honour now.

* * *

Once everyone was rested it was decided that a small contingent would go with the Knights and Sergeant Dom to take over from the group tracking the caravan, so that the leaders could assess the situation and the caravan's position. The rest would begin setting up a camp in the clearing they had found. The sun was growing low in the sky meaning that the slavers would have also started to think about stopping for the night.

No-one spoke on that ride out; Dom kept a vigil of stony silence to both of his fellow commanders, preferring to talk instead to another two of the Own who came with them. As well as them and the two Knights, there was Durg who followed his Lady Knight like her shadow aware of the tenseness in the group. Their six would replace the six who had remained tracking.

It was easy to locate the slaver's caravan: it had not moved an inch from where they left it that afternoon. Having checked with Jowal who had indeed placed himself in charge and the other men who had taken turns on foot Domitan sent them in the direction of the rest of the men.

Francis and Durg had discussed the distance the caravan could have made in the time that they had been separated from it on the way over, and the group had jogged to this spot first to try and catch up. On arriving and finding no tracks of any kind, the six had walked backwards and with some amusement found their quarry exactly where they had left them.

Jowal had been unimpressed that he had not got a moment to show his Lady Knight and the man he treated almost as much like a father as Kel that he was capable of being placed in command.

Now however there were more men, and more slaves amongst them – the reason for the delay. The General had to reorganise the captives' strings so that they were evenly distributed amongst his men. They also found, much to their disgust on return that the General had had his old mage killed in favour for a new one that had arrived with the second slavers team. This new one seemed of good health and his colour was up, suggesting that he would have no problem shielding the entirety of this new, larger, caravan. Kel and her small team sat in stunned silence as they watched the mage prepare to cover the lot of them, and whilst the General conferred with his men about where to stop for the night.

The first thing that Kel had noticed about the new prisoners was that there was another group of the First's men amongst them – twice as many as there had been in the original caravan. But there was something niggling at the back of her mind too; something wasn't quite right yet Kel could not quite understand what her head was trying to tell her.

She watched Domitan instead as he too noticed the men of the Own. Like the first time they had understood the two problems to be connected, his face was one of pure anger and his hands kept flexing on the tree were he leant. All six of their group were concealed as close to the group as possible; they all needed to see what was occurring.

The two Knights and Domitan had argued about this risk but they needed to understand what had changed, and what they were now up against.

It was in this moment, as Kel tried to assess how much their quarry had changed, that she noticed what had been bugging her about their newly expanded enemy: the faces. At first she felt that there must be a lot of families amongst it and heavy relation links between them, but on second glance she realised that she was seeing the same faces repeated. Twins? She asked herself frowning. Not such a regular occurrence but known to happen. But it was here again and again. Kel saw people standing next to one another in the lines that were exactly the same. It was like there was two of each man and woman in the new group, standing silently in their bonds in the captive strings. With a glance at her men, Kel saw that they had noticed too. Something wasn't right.

Whilst Kel was considering this she noted the Own men again and her thoughts became more certain – there were definitely two of each soldier there standing side by side, exactly identical and both absolutely unresponsive. Even when they were nudged by the original captives Kel, Dom and Francis had followed from the Own and muttered conversation was exchanged, the new soldiers did not speak. They did not turn and they did not even appear to recognise their colleagues besides them. It was all completely baffling.

The group of trackers glanced around them at each other, none of them willing to break the stunned and confused silence to address this frightening new development.

At last, seemingly unwillingly Dom cleared his throat and broke the silence.

"Please tell me there are not doubles of those people?" he hissed incredulously but all Kel, or anyone could do was shrug. She did not know what they were witnessing, but it was unlike any other enemy she had come up against.

Still in shock, Kel listened in silence as the General instructed his slavers that they would simply camp here on the track they had made. He did not seem concerned about being discovered, which made a new dread fill her stomach at just what kind of scheme they had stumbled upon.

The General next turned to his new mage and instructed him to conceal the camp site immediately while the slavers got the prisoners restrained. This new mage bowed silently to the General and without a word strode to the front of the caravan, taking his pack with him from his horse.

After this new shock Kel was reluctant to see what new tricks this fresh mage could pull.

* * *

Despite his disgust at the man and his slavers, Francis was pulled from his shock by the voice of the General. He and his men had at first mocked the man who had given himself such a title over a group of thieves, yet when they saw the discipline and obedience with which he ran his operations, the laughter had died in their mouths, realising he must have been in the military at some stage. A militia or mercenary trained slaver was a lethal opposition; they had no morals and all the skills with which to execute whatever scheme they chose.

_And now with this new evil, _Francis thought to himself. _He becomes an even more fatal foe..._

The caravan was in a medium sized clearing; on three sides they were surrounded by deep but narrow streams of mud and water feeding the still-small swamps and in the centre was a large tree. It was to the wide trunk of this tree that all of the horsed men were now tying the beginning of their chains, taking them off the mounts. As one of the new men dragged his line over to the tree, and the woman at the front fought and cried, he growled and pulled harder.

"Behave witch," the man threatened. "Else I attach my end to that branch up there and leave you hanging by your wrists all night."

The other slavers laughed but the General ignored them. He was staring intently around the clearing yet didn't seem overly anxious about being watched; he didn't so much as scan the trees.

"Mentorey, Drundlew – get the tents set up! Serric get the fire started, I'll secure the prisoners."

Francis watched with distaste as the men went to work. He regarded the way that the General roughly, clinically, made sure that each prisoner was still firmly attached to the train of chains and that each train was well-secured to the tree. He noted with a frown that every man from the slavers group seemed to move with an ease borne from many nights of the same routine. They seemed well-practised in this operation, which worried him.

"General?"

One man, either Mentorey or Drundlew, came to where the General stood surveying the prisoners with dark eyes. Every now and again he would lift a foot or check a blister; as a hostler would do his horses, or a farmer travelling with livestock. He was doing just enough to make sure they made the journey alive.

He raised his head to the man.

"Drundlew?" The man lowered his head respectfully but did not squirm under his leader's gaze.

"We were wondering whether you think it will take three more days or two to reach the camp." The General gazed at the man for a moment and when Drundlew raised his head looking for an answer, he laughed a bitter harsh bark of humourlessness.

"Does it matter? As long as we deliver to the Commander, does he care?"

"No sir..." The man murmured demurely in respect.

"Still," The General said briskly. "I would say three more should do it. Why Drundlew?"

"There is a hole on a seam in one of the tents. I was wondering whether to attempt to fix it or to wait till we get to the camp seen as none of us can sew..."

"Well how bad is it?" The General asked impatiently glancing thoughtfully at the woman before him. He was inspecting the sole of her left foot, wiping the dirt from a blister to look at it closer. The woman seemed terrified. Francis pressed his lips together in sudden anger.

"Whoever ends up in it tonight will probably manage..." Drundlew replied doubtfully. The other slavers were watching the exchange in wary silence.

"Woman?" The General looked up suddenly at the woman whose foot he held. She gave a squeak of fear and her eyes widened. "Can you sew?"

The woman nodded. The man besides her started to fight his bonds angrily trying to get closer to her, but the General ignored him.

"If you sew up the seam of our tent, and do a good job, I will feed all of you tonight." The General stood with his hands on his hips, towering over the poor woman. "It's up to you, will you do it?"

She nodded hastily and the General gestured for Drundlew to pull her free.

"Do a good job and none of you will go hungry, but displease me and I won't feed you tonight or tomorrow morn. No funny business woman you hear?"

She nodded again and Drundlew led her to the tent quickly. The General watched her limp and stumble away then turned to stride across to the now lit campfire, out of Francis' line of sight. Before the threatening shape of the leader disappeared completely Francis heard him calling his men.

"Gorric I want this place secured!"

All of the men –and woman - of the tracking group remained silent as they wearily watched the mage prepare a circle around the camp with some sort of powder, passing not two feet from in front of them. Knight and Own soldier alike, felt distaste for the mage who seemed unbothered by the contents of the camp he was concealing; he whistled as he circled the slavers and their tents.

With that complete he uttered something under his breath and before the eyes of all six Tortallan trackers, the entire camp and it's now sixty inhabitants disappeared from view.


	19. Chapter Eighteen: KnightTime

**Chapter Eighteen: Knight-Time**

It took no time at all for camp to be set up that night.

Everyone was tired and frustrated, as well as confused over what they had just witnessed or had recounted to them. There was near silence as every member pitched their own tent and performed their allocated duty in measured movements. Even Kel, Dom and Francis worked in solitude; each overtaken by their own thoughts.

They organised themselves some three miles from where they had left the caravan on the trail, just to be safe. Again they found a surrounded spot that could provide as much cover and protection they could manage.

In Kel's mind she was mulling over what she could have seen. It must have been a trick, on that she was adamant. There was no way that that many twins could be in the same group of captives and all exactly identical. Kel knew that for the most part even identical twins differed minutely; whether it was a couple of centimetres in height or the exact colour of their eyes. She had never seen pairs so similar – let alone that many at the same time. It must have been a trick... maybe a way to disguise how many people they had taken? Maybe they were planting moles?

What usually took well over an hour to complete took all the men under the Knights and Captain, half of that. Unknowingly, they completed their tasks to a better standard than usual also; not that there was usually room for concern but things were fractionally better. Tents were set out in ordered lines and teams rather than the normal chaos. There was no squabbling over positions by campfires, rather men automatically set out ordering by rank and number instead of as a result of a free-for-all pitch fight.

What had been seen had definitely shaken them.

No matter how much they discussed it, no-one could shed any light on what they had witnessed. Several theories were discussed. A trick of the light? A magic trick? Some strange Tyran genetic defect? The list went on.

But what really stumped all the men, was the behaviour of the newly found Own men. Why stand there and ignore your fellow soldiers when you were all tied to the same fate? Why did they seem like they did not hear or even recognise them?

"It's just not possible!" Dom had growled in frustration finally, running an agitated hand through his head. One look at the Captain's face made it clear to the rest of the men that, for now, continuing to discuss the matter would be a very, very bad idea.

Instead, everyone sat around the fires. With dinner eaten and with empty plates strewn around, there was a brief moment of rest before they all started again. All the men were relaxing for a while, waiting for their cue to begin again; Kel was the first one to stand every night – eager to do the work that meant she could reach her bed. For now, in a suspended second, it was as if time was giving them breathing space to catch up. It was like the world had ground to a halt in that instant between actions. It was peace and quiet in the briefest amount.

Kel looked at Francis where he sat deep in thought. Frown lines creased his forehead in a way that made her went to go to his side, reach out and smooth them away with her fingertips. In her close scrutiny, she also noticed the small affects that the road was having upon him; there was a day's stubble on his chin, lightly lined bags under his eyes and his hair looked unruly and mussed. Yet the sight to her was almost as welcome as just his sheer presence besides her. It showed that he too was human – he could weary, he could tire, he could get lonely. It highlighted something for her, in a wordless way that she would never have noticed happen if she weren't involved. It said without words just how much they could suit each other if she only gave it the chance to blossom.

Dom on the other hand, although even after a day's hard work and ride he still managed to look fine, managed to unnerve her slightly with his silence. His manner was completely opposite to Francis as he sat there. While the other Knight seemed to exude an air of calm that soothed her frazzled nerves by being near him, Dom seemed only to manage to raise her anxiety. Whether it was their history, or his manner itself, Kel couldn't seem to be as calm besides him. His eyes held cold frost; his hands held a vice-like strangle hold on each other. Frankly Dom made her more nervous than the fact that they still had had no response from Lord Raoul and the fact that in the next day, they would probably lose the caravan.

Kel sighed. Maybe she was just tired. There was definitely something wrong with her if she could sit here frankly comparing the two as if they were new armour to buy or horses to choose.

With a yawn and a groan Kel stood slowly. Slowly she raised her hands above her head and united them. Then, leaning back gradually, she stretched out all the kinks she had obtained that day from her back. With a moan of satisfaction Kel stood properly once again but this time pulled her tie from her hair as she brought her arms to her sides. Shaking it about her face, she let it hang loose to work out all the knots it too had found along the way.

Many eyes were on her.

_Goddess on earth, _Kel wanted to scream at them, no matter the fact that she was turning red. _Did they really have nothing better to do?_

She surveyed her audience with one eyebrow raised, putting on a cool and disdainful mask to hide her embarrassment. Most of the time she almost forgot she was the only women, then there were other times – like this – when the guys did nothing to allow her to forget that fact.

Putting her hands on her hips and aiming for a stern tone of voice, Kel addressed all before her.

"Well? Have you all got nothing better to do?"

Men at every fire scrambled to begin their individual tasks. No-one wanted to defy the Lady Knight; she was known for her quick mind, even quicker swords skills and for her steel-sharp tongue.

"That's better..." Kel murmured to herself with a nod then turned back to where her two companions sat to her left. Both were still openly and somewhat defiantly staring at her. Each looked amused at her outburst but also generally appreciative too – if anything it did wonders for her confidence. While Dom's eyes ran sparks of lightning along her skin, Francis' mouth was slightly ajar; the smallest smile graced the corner of her mouth at this.

"Dom, are you organising the watch tonight?" Kel asked meeting neither mans' eye. The Captain nodded. "Well don't take a shift – I'm sure you and your men are all exhausted after what you've been doing. I haven't done one for a couple of nights..."

"And what have you been doing for the last couple of days if not working? If we're short I'll remember you," he replied quietly then stood without another word, or glance, and walked away. Kel's temper stirred restlessly; sometimes his melodrama played on her patience. If he was trying to make a point, Kel had got the message loud and clear – she held no authority over him.

"And you..." Kel started stepping closer to Francis where he still sat. For once she towered over him, casting a shadow over his features. He had the good grace to colour and shut his mouth with a snap. "What's your excuse?"

"I don't know what you mean," Francis replied instantly with a slow smile that burnt its way across his face and across her nerve endings. "But I do like the scenery is lovely here..."

He tipped his head back and their eyes met. Francis' were alight with mischief and humour but there was something darker there too – something that caused a lump in her throat.

Whatever it was that he held over her, Kel knew suddenly and with a sun-bright clarity, that she wanted with all her heart to explore it in more detail. Where there had often been confusion and grey-areas, now she saw that ever since they had met it was inevitable that his character and personality would attract closer investigation from her. The attraction she felt for him and the desire she could see just made the decision seem right for a change – it wasn't something that she had to mull over. Thinking about what they could have felt as good as breathing.

"Indeed." Kel smiled eventually with her eyebrows still high on her forehead, never once breaking their eye contact. Francis chuckled quietly and held out a hand.

Taking it with her own, Kel hauled him to his feet staggering backwards with the effort. The hand was warm and dry under hers; rough with work but soft at the same time. The kind of palm she didn't want to let go of. Francis in turn steadied her by the shoulders, preventing her from falling, and then released her with a small heart-string tugger of a smile.

_It is so unfair that he can have this effect, _Kel complained within her head. _I just wish-_

"Don't be such a fool! You know damn well that we bank up the fires while you clear away any leaf matter!"

Before Kel could even finish her thoughts the angry voices of men filled the camp. Looking over to her left Kel regarded the small group of six men that she had not noticed before. Sides had been drawn up and they were beginning to face off as she watched for a moment. She was reluctant to get involved if they could peacefully resolve it for themselves – it was good for the men to think that they had some power over themselves and their fates whilst working.

However it was not to be. The man in the middle of the right-hand side noticed her watching and raised a hand in her direction.

"Lady Knight!" He yelled for her attention and Kel with a sigh began to walk over.

Yet before she could even take a step, another man was before her; a Rider whose name she did not know. He was staring angrily at another Rider who was trailing behind him, and then he turned this gaze on Kel.

"Lady Keladry, I need your assistance in a trivial camp matter..."

The man proceeded to burst into speech then but Kel could not make out a single word of sense. Not only was the man from the argument by the fires still attempting to get her attention, but several other men had approached her and were all talking at once. For a split-second there was just a whirling ball of sound surrounding her, that beat at her ears for dominance. Then, when seemingly they all took a collective gasp of air, Kel heard the angry shouts and curses of a pair of the Own actually tussling besides a bench to her left.

Madness seemed to have taken over her troops which, aligned with exhaustion and saddle-soreness, was a bad combination.

Kel marched over to the fighting pair and hauled them apart by the collars shaking them to get their attention. A tiny portion of her buzzing brain noticed Dom approaching her talking with vehemence too, unaware of the crazy situation unfolding. Throwing the brawlers as far from each other as she could Kel took a deep breath and screamed for silence.

A camp as quiet as the grave was what she got.

Again everyone was looking at her but as a wave of fatigue swept through Kel's system she really wasn't bothered by it this time. Glancing about her for a moment she became aware of the bench besides her and she stood on it, raising her above so that everyone could see.

"Now listen to me – I'm only going to say this once. I want no more of this juvenile squabbling – that's tiredness and frustration talking. None of you should be fighting like a bunch of children, or complaining to me about some petty argument you have with another. You are supposed to be trained men not infants!"

"But..."

At the sound Kel whirled on her post to look at where Dom was stepping forward with a raised arm. His mouth was pressed together in a tight line of impetuosity; fit to compete with the best of the ones she had received from her nieces.

"He started it," the man besides Kel muttered.

He was sulking too. It was a strange site; a huge man of the Own almost at the foot stamping stage of a temper tantrum. If Kel had not been so fed-up, she would have laughed at him.

"Goddess, give me strength! If you are going to act like naughty school children, then you will be treated accordingly." Kel said looking around the whole camp. "I want every chore finished, and done properly, within a half hour and then everyone is to retire to their tents straight. A good early night will soothe some of those tempers for the morning hopefully."

"What gives you the right to order grown men to their beds!" Dom spluttered throwing up his hands. A ripple of agreement flew round the ring that had formed encircling Kel's bench.

"What gives you all the right to jeopardise our camp, the mission and our lives by arguing and fighting! I have watched my brothers' children often enough to see the good sleep does to snappy children. I would have thought most of you would have learnt that lesson by now, but..."

Dom continued to grumble and mutter as did many of the other men but Kel knew to wait. She looked as many of the men as she could in the eye and watched as cogs turned within their brains. Many had children themselves – this thesis would stand true with those. She just had to wait and see if there were enough of them to champion her cause. Suddenly Dom turned clearly looking for someone.

"Francis! Speak reason to her!"

A clearing formed besides the nearest tree and there Kel could see leaning against it, the other Knight. He was frowning much similar to many of their charges; male pride seriously wounded by the chastising. Yet as she looked steadily at him and him at her, she saw that he began to understand what she was doing... or if not that, then trust her enough to know for herself.

"Everyone return to their tents. Do as the Lady Knight says." He replied, ignoring Dom's plea quietly.

There wasn't so much as a rustle from the rest of the camp, so all heard his command. With some still grumbling quietly the men moved out; they ducked their heads and avoided the eyes of their leaders. They may not thank them for it now Kel knew, but she was certain that tomorrow when everyone was fresher and more alert, it may in some places save lives.

As quickly as the situation had sparked it was over. Most of the men went straight to their tents from the centre-clearing but a few went back to the Watch command and where the cooking fires were. T he only people left standing besides the fire were two of the leaders - Kel and Dom.

Dom looked livid. He marched over to stand in front of Kel but in the end got too close – they were almost nose to nose. His eyes were bright and furious and made Kel warily take a step back. This seemed to only anger him further.

"You will not talk to me like one of your nephews!" He said loudly. Kel did not wish to fight with him, but in this state she knew Dom would not leave until he felt his pride had been restored. And she would be damned if she would lie down passively to this man ever again.

"Actually I usually have to do that with my nieces... what are you thinking Dom? Can you not see reason!"

"We have seen enough together Keladry, we have been together long enough that you do not have to use that tone with me," Dom replied ignoring most of what she had said, disregarding her completely.

"That is exactly why I have to use that tone _Domitan! _There is no 'us' not any more – you saw to that. If you dislike the way I lead then take it up with Command, don't try and threaten me. I don't want to fight with you Dom; it's been too long a day."

Dom stepped closer if it was possible and with a rough hand, tipped Kel's chin up so that she looked him in the eye. Furiously, she tried to pull his hand away but for a moment it stayed locked there and all she could do was return his gaze.

"Get off me Captain." Kel whispered slowly.

"You owe me enough to speak to me with respect, the way you're carrying on with me in this way-"

"Carrying on!" Kel interrupted loudly. She forcibly yanked his hand from her skin as if it was white-hot and took a step away. "In what way would that be Domitan?"

"I can see your game you know. I can see the way you are trying to work out my feelings and assess your own. Well if you're thinking of me in that way, you cannot justify speaking to me like-"

"I do not think of you in that way Sir!" Kel protested weakly but he just shook his head furiously then starred right at her.

"How can you know that? We've been through so much Kel, how can you tell?"

Kel's mouth gaped open for a moment as her head drew a blank – damn him he was right, how could she tell that her feelings had gone? What evidence did she have that the love she had thought she had for Dom had vanished?

One quiet thought flickered at the back of her mind.

"Because you left me Dom. Because you ended it and I had to move on to survive. I'm not trying to lead you on now, and if you thought I was, I apologise."

With one last glance at Dom's surprised face Kel turned to march away.

_I cannot believe he thought to do this now. How could he think that I was still interested in him!_

Closing her eyes she took a ragged breath then opened them again only to pause mid-stride.

Francis was still leaning against a tree, arms crossed across his chest, sadness and anger playing across his face. Watching her stare at him with alarm, he shrugged off the tree and turned away; stealing her exit. He had seen the whole thing, and had nothing to say. What had he thought of her?

* * *

Kel didn't know how long she lay in her tent when she had finally gotten to bed. Having told everyone to go to their beds and avoiding Domitan when he tried to talk again, she organised a bigger-than-normal watch so that the men did shorter shifts and got more sleep. She had tried to put her own name and that of Dom and Francis on the rota but the men she discussed it with wouldn't allow it; they said that they had enough to do as leaders and the men would all feel better if they were fully alert too in order to do their jobs in the day time. Finally in her own tent she had lay down still in her shirt and leggings, too tired to undress. Snuggling under her blanket, Kel closed her eyes and sighed as she waited for exhaustion to take her.

But it hadn't.

After a while her blanket was too warm, so it had to come off.

Then the way she was lying was uncomfortable so she spent a while shifting around to try and find an easier position.

Still she was too warm. Wanting to scream in frustration Kel pulled off her vest and put the shirt on again. A while later her leggings joined the heap at the bottom of the tent.

Faintly beyond the walls of her sweltering tent Kel could hear the snores of the men. Even though she was annoyed that on the night when she most needed it she couldn't sleep, hearing the grunts and rip roaring sounds some were making made her grin unwillingly. There was little else to be heard. Like every other night they had been out here she couldn't hear any wildlife; no rustling, no bird calls or animal sounds. There wasn't even a wind rushing through the trees to lull her to sleep.

Kel felt somewhat stifled. The air in the tent seemed to press against her lungs rather than fill them, making her attempts to sleep even harder. She felt like crying in frustration.

Finally Kel got up.

Even though there seemed nothing else she could try to prepare herself for sleep, she still left her tent with a sigh of reluctance. Discarding the twisted knot of blankets where they were – none of the men would be around close enough to see her strolling around in just Griffin and her long shirt – she stepped out of the canvas door.

Standing for a moment taking lungful after lungful of the crisp night air, Kel absentmindedly pulled at the ends of her shirt. It reached as far as her mid-thigh but still she felt a little exposed.

_Not that I'm going to be out that long,_ Kel thought as she finished tying Griffin's belt round her waist. Lastly she pulled all her damp hair off her neck and tied it in a rough bun.

Barefoot and feeling calmer by the second, she began to walk slowly towards the main section of the camp, away from where sleeping men lay that she could wake up if she fell. It wouldn't be fair of her to disturb them because she couldn't get her body to do what she wanted, what it needed to do.

In the darkness, all Kel could pick out from the surrounding landscape was the outline of the bigger trees. Shadows fell everywhere across the relatively clear campsite, borne from the tents and from the undergrowth. High above her in the sky a substantial slice of the moon was a beacon of the night, highlighting the few clouds in the otherwise clear space. Stars were twinkling too but nothing was as radiant of the moon.

_A sign of the Goddess' love,_ Kel thought to herself and she smiled lightly up at the heavens. She could almost feel the Great Lady's eyes watching her, smiling down at her with amusement. _I'm only going for a little walk to tire myself out..._

The moon's light also made it a sight easier for Kel to see the guide-ropes to the tents she passed and avoid catching them. Some of them had silver woven into the string to catch the light anyway, but even the other regular ones were outlined by an unearthly glow.

_It's even eerily beautiful in the darkness_, Kel noted. This area was certainly having an effect and leaving an impression upon her. She knew she would remember it until the day she passed into the realms of the Gods. It wasn't just the atmosphere of majesty, as well as the one of wariness, or the splendour of the scenery. It was what had occurred here too, although the pure evilness of their quarry did leave a grungy stain on the white, good purity on what was beginning to develop. Kel didn't dare let herself hope now that Francis had walked away from her conversation with Dom.

She lost track of the amount of time she had been walking around the ringed clearing between the tents set up and the general convening area that held the campfires. There were five tonight, in a ring, at the centre of the space, with clear areas around them for the men to have sat that night or to do so in the morning. All were still burning brightly, being not that long since they were banked up for the night.

_Maybe a time by the fires to warm myself will make me sleepy, _Kel thought. _If not, it's as good a place as any to think – at least I'll be warm._

Choosing to sit under the tree closest to the left fire Kel picked her way over to it slowly. It wasn't that the floor was sharp against her bare feet, as it should be, but more that she was wary if she got complacent of the spongy ground she would find a pointed patch. The tree would provide shelter if the wind did pick up and the bench besides it was the closest one to any of the fires, giving her maximum heat. It was also pitch black beneath the tree's boughs; the moonlight completely blocked by the thick branches that stretched nearly as far as Kel could see into the sky.

Walking towards the tree from behind, Kel didn't see until it was too late to change direction that that particular bench already had one occupant; and that they had already seen her.

Feeling warmth not from the fire licking through her veins, Kel forced herself to continue walking forwards even though she could see the man's gaze trained upon her approach. She was glad it was dark; it hid her blush...But it wasn't dark enough to cover her completely.

Halting by his side, Kel heard Francis let out a slow breath as he looked up at her again and felt unsure of what was going to happen. She hadn't seen him since he had witnessed Dom's words earlier, and he would be angry with her. In her mind she was deciding whether it would be better for him to allow her to sit down and talk about it or ignore her completely.

Kel swallowed nervously and finally searched to catch his gaze, but found she couldn't. With another onset of blood colouring her cheeks she watched Francis' pointed stare take in her appearance. She could almost feel it as his eyes leisurely tracked her from the feet upwards where she stood in a way Kel never knew could torture her. Awkward again she tugged at the shirt ends and tried to pull them down; this time she was the one to refuse to meet his eyes when his flashed to her face.

Francis was sitting sprawled on the ground, leaning against the large log acting as a bench. He was still dressed from that day, but had slung his jerkin across the bench and his boots lay in a heap at his side. His shirt was rumpled and he had undone the strings at the top for comfort then untucked it from his trousers. He looked extremely tired but the most human she had ever seen him – most of the time he was always the one in control. Francis cleared his throat and smiled gently up at her, leaning up off the bench and on to his knees.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" He said quietly, a low rumble from his chest. Kel's heart pounded in response and she tugged at the shirt.

"Oh, I didn't come looking for you - I didn't realise you were here," Kel said quickly and Francis smiled. Her eyes widened when she realised what she had said. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that-"

Francis laughed easily.

"Don't worry about it; we're all tired and thoroughly worn out. Speaking of which," he continued lightly, starting to heave himself to his feet. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Don't," Kel interrupted quickly and put a hand of his shoulder to stop his movements. He paused and regarded her for a moment on his knees but still nearly reaching her ribs in height. "Don't get up – I came to sit... if that's alright?"

Francis moved to sit again and shuffled over slightly waving a hand at her. She smiled and tugging the shirt again, she started to try and sit down without making a fool of herself.

"Don't," Francis echoed in a husky voice and she looked up at him from where she was bending over holding her shirt endings firmly down. "Don't bother with all that, I'm quite enjoying the view actually..."

Red again Kel huffed at his chuckle of laughter and, when she was finally sitting close by his side, smacked him lightly on the arm with a laugh of her own.

The pair sat in silence side by side both staring at the fire as their laughter died in the night.

Kel shifted uneasily making sure the shirt was below her. Finally she settled on drawing her knees up to her chest as she leaned against the log and stretching the shirt down over them. Francis raised his eyebrows at her in amusement.

"Are you comfy now?"

"Yes actually..." Kel replied haughtily causing him to laugh again. This made her frown. "You always seem to be laughing when we're together."

"I know its great isn't it?" Francis smiled and stretched his right arm, the one closest to her, along the log. "I can always seem to smile when you're around; laughter just feels right..."

Kel smiled up at him in response and their eyes met properly for the first time that night. Francis' expression made her feel relaxed; his eyes were wide and open and honest... and if she truly believed, caring. She hoped she was right.

The energy and power that always seemed to exist between the pair of them emerged then, making it harder for Kel to breathe but not in the way that had earlier made her panic; it made her take ragged gasps. It seemed her shoulder was tingling where it brushed his as they sat but it wasn't truly close enough for Kel's liking.

Francis seemed to be searching her eyes for something intently. Whatever it was, Kel hoped he would find it – everything she now knew she felt was there in that moment, waiting for him. Now that she had realised truly just how much she cared, she couldn't hold back thinking about it and showing it. Francis had punched a hole in her blockade when he had arrived and now everything Kel felt wasn't stored behind or under her mask, but poured through that gap to the surface. She was sure he could see everything; she had never felt like this before.

Suddenly something – a thought – pulled Francis back and a muscle in his jaw jumped. His eyes turned serious as he regarded her, confusing Kel immensely.

"Dom," Francis uttered as if in explanation. Though Kel had been sure this conversation would be thrust between them at some point it still made her frown; he sounded almost... jealous. Kel knew that was just her wishful thinking – Francis was a Knight and from a good family, what did he have to resent the Captain for?

"What about him?"

Kel leaned her arms on her knees then, her head on her forearms, as she gazed up at the man by her side. Francis' eyes searched her face before he spoke.

"How long have you been together?"

At this Kel sat up. He had heard her fight with Dom hadn't he; the one where Dom accused her of misleading him? And what kind of women did he think she was? Would she really be seeing someone else at the same time, with everything they had done together in the last few short days?

When Kel said as much to Francis he laughed bitterly.

"You'd be surprised Kel..." he sighed and ran an anxious hand through his hair. "I thought you were different but..."

"And who says I'm not different? I thought you heard Domitan earlier-"

"I did! And that what makes me ask; if he thinks you're leading him on, you must have been spending time together at some point."

"I have been nowhere with Captain Domitan where there has not been several of the Own or Riders along too. We were together a long time ago and then it ended." Kel said firmly turning away from Francis in annoyance. She couldn't believe that everything that had happened lifetimes ago was _still_ haunting her.

Two cool fingers lightly stroked the skin under her chin, and then turned her back to face Francis. When she did, he was much closer than before – right up against her. Kel blinked disorientated at the change. Her senses informed her of how much they liked this proximity; his leg resting solidly next to her hip, his chest touching her tucked up knees, as he sat up next to her intently.

_It's not better if all he's going to do is shout_, Kel reminded herself, thinking back to Dom's hold earlier.

"When?" Francis asked quietly.

"Why does it matter? Can't you just accept my word?"

Kel was getting a little annoyed herself now but she insisted it wasn't at Francis – it was at Dom. She was never going to speak to him again.

"I need to know Kel," Francis replied gently, his stroking fingers wandering her face. "For my own sanity; if he ever accuses you of anything again this way I can properly defend you. You shouldn't have to face him alone while I stand idly, and helplessly, by like this evening."

Kel was touched and her streak of self-defiance was instantly soothed in his answer. He seemed to have a knack for that. Francis took a deep breath and continued when she didn't speak.

"You don't know how much it hurt to have to leave you to his anger; I could have killed him for speaking to you like that and for touching you against your will. But how could I get involved when I couldn't guarantee it wasn't true? I _knew_ you wouldn't do anything like that – you're not that type of person – but I still couldn't defend you without knowing."

When Francis paused Kel smiled at him, all the tension leaving her body. She relaxed into his hand, leaning her face against the warm dry palm. He returned to sitting close by her side and she leant against his side, but the proximity didn't seem to be enough for him. Suddenly warm hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her; gently Francis drew her from beside him, to in front of him. From sitting companionably side by side they were now entwined with Kel leaning against Francis' chest. His strong arms went around her, holding her close and for a moment they sat in silence. Kel could feel Francis slowly relaxing too; his breath blew at her hair and onto the side of her face. His warm solidness at her back made her feel at ease so much it scared her.

"Please talk to me..." Francis pleaded, breaking the last of Kel's resistance. She knew that this moment was a tipping point, she cursed herself for not having seen it before; their relationship had, up to this point, been gradually building like an off-shore wave. Here alone in the clearing was that split second when the wave crests at the surface: would it break and fall apart losing all its energy and momentum, or would it continue to grow and build?

Either she gave Francis a part of herself, a token to show that she trusted him enough to share her past, and their relationship progressed to a more substantial form...or she refused him and he went away feeling betrayed and frustrated.

Whilst Kel felt this unmistakable pull towards him, she couldn't help but want to withhold the truth. It was still too much of an angry red sore for her to bare it – it gave him a point of access that meant he would be able to deepen the hurt... or make it go away.

"The only times I have been anywhere near alone with Dom has been mission time. Nothing ever happened – you will have to trust me on that. He has simply misunderstood."

"What about his reference to your past?" Francis ploughed on nodding.

"Domitan has been a dear friend to me for many years," Kel started slowly. "I met him whilst still training at the Palace through his cousin. He was always nice to me; he never treated me with the disdain that I had from so many others at the time. He was different...

"Maybe that's what attracted me to him? The sheer change in _his_ personality to anyone else I had met – even his cousin and my friends still misjudged me sometimes, because I was The Girl. Domitan never made that mistake. From the very beginning he treated me as an equal.

"We did see each other for awhile – it seemed an inevitable path to take. But it was complicated. This job, it changes people and it is never the best light through which to see a person. We saw some difficult times together and I became – still am to some extent – bitter, not just about my decisions or Dom's, but of everything. Dom is a part of that. He holds me back. I can't move on from all that with him as a major part of my life. We bring out the worst in each other; we weren't a healthy pair..."

Kel took a ragged breath and looked up and over her shoulder, from where she had been staring at her hands. Francis was watching her with an unreadable expression over his features. It made her nervous – would this be too much for him? He wouldn't be the first man she had heard of to have walked away from a relationship because of the burdens of their partners. Wide eyed and more frightened than she thought she'd ever been in her life Kel searched the realms of his evergreen eyes for answers.

There was a long period of silence as Francis regarded her, seemingly deep in thought. Kel's heart thundered a drumbeat inside her chest whilst tears pooled just under her lids. One thought was echoing around inside her head, apparently alone. _Make or break..._

"And do you still have feelings for him?"

Francis' usually rich voice - the one that could soothe every nerve ending – cut through her like a knife. There was such detachment in his words to make her heart sink. Despondent feelings flooded her system making Kel stare at her hands again. As much as she wanted him to just say what he needed to and leave, a twisted part of her mind wanted, needed, to prolong the moment just because he was sat beside her.

"Hard to say," she answered reluctantly, not quite sure where the words were coming from. "Dom hurt me deeply when we were together. I won't ever forget what happened. But sometimes I see an echo of the old Dom I used to know reach the surface of his eyes again, and there's the love we had lying bare – then it vanishes again. This Dom wasn't my creation; he appeared between us long before the end. It doesn't feel the same as it does now... Here. This never happened before. I don't get the same rush as I do for, for..."

"Me?" Francis asked quietly and hopefully, making her look up. A small ghost of a smile sat on Francis' lips and Kel nodded wordlessly. His eyes warmed in recognition while a magnificent heartfelt smile blossomed on his face. As afraid as she was of making her emotions known, Kel was more frightened of what would happen if she didn't.

His arms closed around her tighter and she lay back against his chest; her own hands clutched where his joined in front of her. For a second, Kel shuffled and slithered her body upwards so her face lay against Francis' – her temple by his jaw – feeling so close to him. Her legs had drawn his inwards so now they were intertwined; wrapped and curled around one another in a position that seemed right.

Under her back, his body heat radiated through his shirt, adding sensory reality what Kel could hardly believe was happening. She had held back that big part of herself for so long that to let it go for a second time and to not have it rejected was amazing. If anything Francis seemed to feel more secure in them as a pair, if anything could be taken from the way his hands were running up and down her arms. Kel shivered with a tingle of pleasure and happiness.

"Are you warm enough?" Francis asked suddenly. A hand abandoned her for a second but when it returned it draped his jacket about the two of them. Enveloped in heat, Kel could have almost purred in contentment. She murmured quietly into his neck as she settled there.

Why had she not realised, after all the magical moments that had occurred between them, that telling Francis about Dom – being truly honest – wouldn't scare him away? Kel stroked her fingers gently along his hands and forearms in unconscious patterns under their blanket, as her thoughts skittered about her head. His feelings seemed to be unchanged-

"What about you?" Kel asked in a careful whisper suddenly; he hadn't said anything in return to her big confession had he? How had she missed it!

"What about me?" Francis replied lightly then a sound rumbled through his chest. It was a deep humming sound; a mixture between a sigh and a growl. It made Kel shiver again and she hoped it was a contented sound.

"How do you... feel?" she felt reluctant and awkward asking, and didn't want to meet his eye.

Francis laughed lightly whilst his hands moved slowly back down her arms to her waist then wrapped around her tighter, fingers possessively curling on her hips – a vow and a promise.

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried. Whatever you had said about Captain Domitan, I would have rallied. I just can't believe that you're here – that you _feel_..."

"I know..." Kel finished for him and it was true: he didn't need to say it. She felt exactly the same.

Francis sighed in contentment making Kel smile lightly. As she watched the flames dance brightly before her, feeling her spirit soar up to chase the moon, she felt his lips touch gently against the bare skin behind her ear. From here they moved slowly, rubbing her skin with chaste kisses to her jaw and then begin a path down the column of her neck. One hand reached up to her shoulder and pulled the gaping shirt neck open wider as his mouth explored. Kel loved the way he could make her feel so alive and admired but...

"Love?" She whispered quietly and Francis emitted another rumbling noise in response. "Every time you touch me I melt, that is undeniable and it's incredible but..."

Francis' lips paused on their quest.

"... Are you not exhausted!"

His head dropped to nestle where her neck joined her shoulder and he chuckled gruffly. "Shattered my dear."

"Thank God..." The pair laughed together and settled for snuggling together in weary but content peace.

Beneath the jacket one of Francis' arms disengaged from her waist and moved to rest on her knee, rubbing the exposed skin there as if to attempt to keep it warm. In truth Kel thought it was just an excuse to place a hand there, but she was in no way complaining. The added weight of his palm on her knee felt wonderful.

"Why don't you go back to bed love?" Francis said eventually. "You'll catch your death out here in that shirt."

"Don't you like my shirt?" Kel replied teasingly. His fussing was endearing and heart-warming in a way she would never have expected.

"I love that shirt, but it doesn't seem to be keeping you warm."

"It doesn't need to," she assured him. "Here, I'm plenty warm thank you very much."

She snuggled closer to prove her point and got one of the throaty chuckles she loved so much for her efforts.

"Who says I'm going anywhere?" Kel asked stubbornly.

"You need your sleep, my love. We have work to do tomorrow."

"I don't think I could fall asleep." She continued in a whisper.

"How about a story before you go?" Francis smiled down at her as she looked up to see if he was joking. She thought he was teasing her – as a Knight it seemed a ridiculous idea – but in that moment as a woman curled up, there was no better thought in the world than her man telling her a story to make her sleep.

Besides, Francis' face was serious but for the warm caring smile it held.

"Yes please... but it has to have a happy ending."

"All my stories have happy endings," Francis squeezed her knee lightly and dropped a light kiss on her forehead. He pulled the jacket around them tighter and tucked it in. His legs folded below hers seating Kel in his lap effectively, curled up as she was. It kept the warmth in and she felt the benefit of it almost immediately.

Turning slightly on her side Kel rested on Francis' chest, one of her arms lay on his shirt playing with the strings. A reverent finger strayed to the accessible skin and ran across it gently causing rumbles to reverberate through her pillow.

Francis caught the hand and, having kissed its palm, lay it to rest on his heart with his own covering it.

"Once upon a time," he began quietly smiling at her. "In a land not so far away, there was a Lady Knight..."

Kel smiled at him in response and closed her eyes, laying her head against him. While she heard the story, the words washed over her; his calming tone having an effect. A glow of warmth and care that Kel hadn't felt in a long time filled her, a contentment that she had been missing. Francis added voices to his tale – telling one of the stories that she knew was told in taverns across Tortall about her and the Lioness, of one of the countless times they had worked together. Francis described them as an awesome sight – two strong, beautiful women facing mythical monsters on horseback. While Kel knew the truth; that the fight had been bloody and both had come away with injuries, it was nice to hear what everyone else did, feel the hope and pride it stirred.

A wave of lethargy fell upon her and Francis causing his words to slow. She felt herself lulled into a sleep-filled oblivion with her Knight falling besides her into the night.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Dawn

**Chapter Nineteen: Dawn**

Consciousness danced at the edge of her awareness, threatening to shatter the dream-world that she knew she was exploring.

It was the road she was walking that made her thoughts jolt with the fact that she was asleep. Kel found herself walking calmly and quietly, hand-in-hand with Francis, down the main road home: the main road into Mindelan. They both led horses with packs but weren't dressed in armour. They wore normal clothes.

Why was she walking down the Mindelan Pass?

She was in Tyra; she was chasing slavers with Francis and Domitan...

What were they doing here?

Beams of light swam across her vision and when Francis opened his mouth a multitude of murmurs filled the air rather than the wonderfully rich tone she was convinced she had captured in her memory.

The whispers increased, accompanied by chuckles this time. They got louder and louder flooding her dream-addled head which protested at the intrusion. It became almost unbearable; she pressed her hands over her ears, wrenching both from Francis' grip to do so. He turned frowning in question at her. Still the sounds writhed around her in the air.

Only then did she wake up.

As Kel lifted a hand to shield her sensitive eyes from the unusually bright sunlight, she became aware of the odd warmth radiating from beneath her cheek, her hand, round her waist. Why was it so bright inside her tent this morning? And so warm?

Closing her eyes to the intrusive light, Kel pushed herself up slowly, off the unusually soft ground. She stretched her arms above her head ignoring what must be the sounds of the camp waking outside. For once her tent wasn't as cold as ice; a good portent in her mind to the start of a good day.

The sounds she could hear were louder now: men getting ready for the day ahead. Now doubt they had already started breakfast and Kel was in no mood to have to join the scrum for the meal – she would have another ten minutes before entering the rabble.

She brushed her hair back from her face and lay back down again, snuggling into the soft comfort of her bed roll. She pulled the cover tighter around her and, whilst she did not sleep, she lay and listened. The laughter had levelled off now, an almost constant sound. The men were in a good mood for once – she had learned early on in their time together that none of the males in her group particularly enjoyed the dawn. While she had never been a morning person either through experience and repetition it had simply become a part of her life that she put up with now.

Again the heat that enveloped her as she relaxed gradually shocked Kel. It must have had something to do with the starts of the Tyran swamps... a hot spring maybe? What else could have made the ground so warm?

Kel shrugged mentally within her head at her thoughts and advanced to think of her dreams. All night she had been with Francis, or with Dom, or with both away from this place – in other friendlier territory. What did it mean? Kel carried the belief that strange dreams had a purpose and carried meaning. If it was out of place and odd, it invariably held something that the Gods wished us to address. Where was the meaning in this one?

As she thought Kel rolled over, tugging at her bedroll slightly with her hands to mould a more comfortable shape out of it for her to lean on. The cloth was rough beneath her hands but still warm making her sigh with weary pleasure.

When she tugged harder, something suddenly moved near her. Probably an animal in her tent Kel reasoned, startled at the disturbance.

_I should probably get up and deal with it..._

When skin – human skin – touched her hand a split second later Kel's mind stopped still.

_Definitely not an animal!_

A moment later she was pushing up from the ground and grasping with the hand that had not made contact, for her sword. But something stopped her. The warmth that lay on her hip and snaked across her waist heavy for cloth, tightened like a vice holding her in place.

At last Kel opened her eyes fully. She wasn't in her tent.

She was by a campfire.

She was lying on the bare ground covered with a jacket.

No. She wasn't lying on the ground.

She was lying on Francis...

Memories and awareness flooded her mind suddenly as did the perceptions of the situation around her. Men stood watching on both sides of her. The looks on their faces ranged from amused to smug and back to a neutral ease. No-one looked annoyed or angry and yet Kel still squirmed like she was five again; under her father's wrathful gaze for pushing her sister over.

She still had on only her shirt.

Kel relaxed her fight with embarrassment lying back down to hide her face into Francis' shoulder, sneaking a glance at his face as she did so. He was watching her also.

When their eyes met he smiled lightly; a soothing calm greeting containing none of the jolting emotions she was sure hers held. It was his hand clasping hers that had jolted her into awareness. It was his arm around her and his jacket that was so prominent. It was his chest and shoulder that was so warm under her.

"Morning..." Francis whispered, for her only. There was that voice that she thought she would remember forever. The sound rumbled through her very body where it lay on his chest. She smiled shyly at him and he rubbed her hand within his, chafing the knuckles.

"Well well, what do we have here?" A light-hearted voice boomed by her side. As she turned her head to the noise, Kel laid her cheek on Francis' shoulder; as much trouble and mocking they would probably get for this, she was unwilling to give up her warm rest so easily. The damage was already done after all.

Durg, surrounded by the rest of Kel's men was the source of the noise. His eyes danced good-naturedly at the sight before him and in his heart he felt a deep joy at seeing his Lady Kel in such a situation. It could only hold well that she had let herself get into something this far; he hadn't seen her so engaged in years.

"Definitely not what is going through your head, that's for damn sure!" Kel replied quickly causing men all around her to chuckle ruefully.

"Yes," Francis added waving a dismissive hand at the crowds. "There's nothing to see here!"

"Well there must be something, else you two wouldn't be here." Jowal piped up causing Kel to scowl at him. Both he and Durg grinned wider for the look; they both fully intended to get as much mocking out of this scenario as possible for when was it ever feasible to tease the Lady Knight?

"Pray tell," Jowal continued. "What were you two looking at? It must have been fascinating for you to stay here till morning!"

"We were looking at... the stars," Francis admitted quietly. Kel blushed at the words and ducked her head, but no-one laughed. Francis' voice was serious but not in his usual military professionalism way. Here, it rang of truth and feeling rather than rank and training.

"Yes yes." A man on their other side waved off Francis' sincerity with an impatient gesture. He continued with his hands on his hips and a frown. "But what made you stay out so long that you fell asleep..."

To this neither of them had an answer suitable for the situation. Kel looked up at her Knight as he looked down and in that gaze she saw the answer which he couldn't put into words – the one she needed right in that second. She hoped Francis found it in hers too for at a time like this it was safe to voice nothing.

Looking away she coughed uncomfortably and settled for looking abashed, at the floor. She sincerely hoped that this would appease the men and they would disperse; thinking they were suitably embarrassed and chastised to move on from the matter.

Francis muttered incomprehensibly and their men chuckled again.

"Well," Durg spoke after a moment. "We best get breakfast ready... those of us appropriately attired that is!"

Kel flushed further as she pulled the jacket over her legs more fully. It seemed that Francis had not noticed for his head snapped towards the ground and he aided her in tucking the jacket around her. Kel wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. Would she be able to lead the men when they had seen her with so little regard for her status above them? She cursed herself for being so stupid in her mistake and prayed to the Gods that it had not meant that the men would not follow her.

"I'm sure you all have duties to be getting on with..." A small but distinct voice rang over the uncomfortable silence from the back of the crowd. Men shuffled and moved back to let someone though, others moved away with looks of alarm to their posts and jobs. Kel closed her eyes in resignation but also – if she was honest with herself – a little fear. "What is all this fuss abo-"

As Dom entered the small clearing left around Francis and Kel, an awkward hushed silence fell. Even the sounds of the wind through the foliage seemed muted and quiet, as if in anticipation.

"What is going on here?" Dom blustered so loudly that some of the men jumped.

Kel flinched at his tone: on one level she could hear the hurt in his voice, something he was attempting to hide from public display. On another there was genuine anger at them – Gods, she was annoyed at herself for being so blatantly unprofessional: they could have been killed by the enemy whilst they slept! Lastly, Kel imagined she could hear hatred in his words, probably at her as well as Francis. All of that contracted a tight band round her heart from those five little words.

"No need for that tone Captain."

Kel had felt Francis stiffen beneath her when Dom had spoken and his words came out as a swift rebuttal that she knew would only make the situation worse.

"Well then Sir Francis," Dom demanded. "Pray tell, is there a valid reason why I find the two of you lying in an exposed area in the middle of enemy territory?"

"Domitan, there's no need-" Kel attempted quietly to defuse the situation – both men were shouting so loud that the whole camp was both listening and staring openly at the spectacle of their leaders fighting. She was silenced by the raw fury in the look Dom sent her.

"That is not the quarrel you have with me here Domitan," Francis continued. "And we both know it."

Sighing, Kel pulled away from Francis thinking wistfully of how much she had thought this was the start of a good day. Without thinking she draped Francis' jacket on the log and stood up, stepping away from the men. Without her leaning on him, Francis stood and faced Dom; his hands balled at his sides.

"Nonsense Francis! My only concern is that the pair of you, are supposed to be leading us here, in hostile territory and you have been found acting so unprofessional."

Absent-mindedly Kel tugged at the bottom of her shirt and straightened the collar. She dragged her fingers through her hair and then crossed her arms. Standing at the side of a confrontation was not her usual place but if she got involved things would get much, much worse.

"Liar..." Francis replied quietly. Men around them murmured in disapproval and shock – surely their officers had been struck with madness if they were turning on each other.

"Do not call me a liar Sir, having been found in such an unprofessional manner...not only that, but also in a socially unacceptable situation too!"

Kel watched as the men strode closer to each other uneasily. This would not end well.

"There was nothing socially _unacceptable _– as you put it – about our plight, Domitan. It was a mistake! Nothing unsightly occurred; you just wish it so. Spare us your smutty mind Captain."

"I don't believe you to be so noble Sir," Domitan hissed in response, his eyes dancing in anger; blue crested with bright burning fire. Kel itched to defend Francis but a part of her intuition told her to wait – to stay out of it. The noises of the crowding men were getting louder as they roared at the words of the lesser-of-the-two they supported. It was a veritable dog fight.

"You know nothing of me Captain and you will be mindful to watch your place."

"Rest assured Sir Francis, I know _exactly _where **my** place lies."

Never before had Kel felt so trapped; stuck in the middle of an argument where she supported both sides – understood where the defender was coming from. She could not fight her own corner and these two would forget about all the consequences of their arguing until it was over. Then they would blame each other for those too... So caught up in her whirlwind thoughts Kel had not noticed the momentary silence that reigned whilst the pair stared at each other, and their men began to draw sides on the shouting-match.

"So is this what I missed while I was away tracking? Should I have sent some to supervise and chaperone the pair of you while I was working?" Dom demanded this time making eye contact with both Francis and Kel.

At his words the Knight facing up to him snarled in anger and took another step forwards towards the Own Captain.

"Do not speak of something you know nothing about Captain..." Kel said quietly, finally speaking. Both men turned to look at her as she finally joined the argument. "And truly, both of you, is this really the time to do this?"

Domitan and Francis both looked around them at the Lady Knights words and took in some of their audience. Standing off as they were in the middle of the camp it was impossible for any of the men to miss the showdown that was occurring.

"If Captain Domitan has an issue with me Keladry, I feel it is appropriate that he airs his views so we can all move on," Francis spoke turning back to face Dom. His voice was cool and professional and seemingly calmer – there was less anger infusing his words now. Kel hoped that this meant he was at least seeing some sense now.

"I do have an issue Sir Francis, and I agree now is as good a time as any for this to be addressed."

When Domitan spoke also his voice was dark and quiet but less angry than it had been. The Lady Knight took a breath for the situation seemed to have diffused itself.

"Kel?" Simultaneously the pair spoke. They both turned to her for support in their argument, both shooting murderous glances at the other for trying to gain her aid also.

Having only just thought that it was all over, she now found herself conflicted.

How could she choose between these two, who represented so much within her life: Dom all that there was in her past whilst Francis was all that her future could be. How could she choose when both sides rang true in her mind yet neither deserved more support.

Her heart wanted her to choose Francis – again – to turn to Dom – again – and quietly, gently, reason with him. It wanted her to ease his ruffled feathers but also leave him in no uncertainty that when this was all over, Francis might become a major part of her life.

Yet her head screamed, ached, for Kel to consider what choosing Francis would mean for working with Dom, for the mission. It demanded that she turn to Dom and agree that it was unprofessional and silly of them to sit so unprotected and so unacceptably outside whilst working. It wanted her to tell Francis that they needed to be professional until the slavers were caught and to tell the men that they needn't be concerned about the quarrels amongst their leaders.

The war within her tore Kel in two, stirring to the surface an urge to cry out loud. Both head and heart seemed equally dominant, ripping the Lady Knight and her soul in two where she stood. It was difficult for her to see which one she would be able to live with doing, yet neither seemed acceptable.

Selfishly, both ways she lost something: a part of her that she didn't want to be separated from. Terror clasped at her chest at the thought of losing Francis when she herself wasn't sure how much he could mean to her, however fright also made her vision swim at the very idea of never working or seeing Dom again after being so soon reconciled with him.

"Kel?" Durg prompted quietly, suddenly by her side. He smiled lightly at her and nodded in the direction of Dom and Francis. "Sort these two boys out will you?"

Though he spoke lightly, suddenly that was all that was needed. The answer to Durg's question resounded within her so loud that it drowned out the internal conflict. She saw a way out.

_No._

She stared up into the faces of her two men arguing before her and hoped that in her eyes they saw some of the conflict she was facing. Having looked at both squarely and held there gazes she looked at her hands while she spoke quietly the one thing she wanted, needed, both men to consider before they all began working again.

"Please, don't make me choose..."

Hair and shirt-tails flying, Kel turned and ran in the other direction. Judging by the faces of the men she passed, the words had resonated out of her mouth as well as round her soul. Kel hardly felt her feet touch the ground as she fulfilled the pressing urge to be away, to be _out_, to flee the conflict.

Behind her she left the two men staring; angry and confused. Kel ran like all the problems in the world were giving chase at her heels out of the clearing and into the surrounding forest. She ran like her sanity and life depended on it; none of the men who saw her could completely say whether it didn't.


	21. Chapter Twenty: Surprise

**Chapter Twenty - Surprise**

Keladry ran until reason returned giving weight to her surroundings and priority to the situation she had fled.

What had she been thinking – running like that? She should have taken charge, fought her own corner. What had possessed her to behave like that?

Kel couldn't answer the questions floating round her head. It was unlike her to behave so passively in a conflict. It was unlike her to run from action. It was unlike her to create a scene like that by being so careless.

She brushed a hand through her hair restlessly and slowed to a walk. She abandoned attempting to question what had already occurred and resolved to form actions in the near future that would solve what she had left. She couldn't change the past after all, but the present was clay to mould in her hands.

Finally glancing around her, Kel realised in her reverie she had ventured to one of the many streams surrounding the edge of the camp. This one in particular was on the very outer edge – marking an invisible line created by the sentry guards. Here, though she was between two of the posted men, aid was never far away. That had been their aim when she, Dom and Francis had devised the layout of the camp: invisible yet cohesive.

The water she could hear ran hidden behind the rise of the bank in front of her. Once she had ascended the slight incline she could see the stream in its entirety. It gurgled in hushed whispers from left to right through the clearing; confessing as it overcame rocks, murmuring around bends in its path. Again the lush green vitality of the surrounding vegetation astounded her though she should have been used to it by now. Through the breaks in the branches above her Kel could make out pieces of blue sky – the first she had seen in days.

A sudden fierce urge rushed her system to see the sky in its entirety even just for a moment. It almost overwhelmed her, standing there in that peaceful clearing breathing deep lungfuls of the crisp air. Almost and then the sensation was gone.

What was wrong with her today?

It was almost like everything she had witnessed and felt last night had shattered the facade she had created for her work – her professional front seemed to have evaporated. She couldn't seem to focus at all; every slight, beautiful thing captured her imagination and caught her eye. The way that the light caught on the dust in the air. How the trees on the edge of the stream had bent both bow and limb to immerse roots in the life-giving water. Where the grass that petered out at the water was replaced by the rich exposed earth.

Kel shook her head hoping to clear it: it must be emotional overload or something, she thought.

She knelt gently on the lip of the bank and dipped her hands into its cool depths. She scrubbed furiously at her face to rid herself of the remains of sleep and hopefully this dopey, _feminine, _state of mind she seemed to have assumed. Yet washing did not stop her mind from swirling around at an alarming rate.

The strength of her feelings surprised her; the way they fought to overwhelm her and pull her under with their current. The sheer elation she felt about everything that had happened with Francis coursed through her veins, burning away any complaints her body may have had about that lack of sleep. It was all very new, and slightly terrifying to Kel who had so much else to cope with at the same time. She wasn't sure whether she would have to neglect something along the way for everything else to succeed; only the question was, what?

_Perhaps I've finally lost it – snapped and gone mad – as many of those old Conservatives claim?_

She was shaking her hands dry when a shadow fell over the stream.

Kel's head snapped up at the sudden movement while her heart beat out an erratic rhythm at the shock. Her eyes darted to the stranger before her; apparently almost as surprised to see her as she was to find him here.

Standing on the other bank, he was of medium height and stocky build with Tyran features. He carried several flaccid water flasks, probably to fill from the stream at someone's request. Whilst he had a helmet on his head, he wore no body armour – clearly not expecting any kind of conflict.

_Sloppy mistake for a soldier to make, _Kel noted in her head before springing into action.

She straightened and unsheathed Griffin from at her side where it remained always. While the man was seemingly unsure of what he should do, Kel seized the moment and the initiative: springing into the water with an impressive jump and a bone-chilling battle cry. The man could not be allowed to return to his colleagues to tell of what he had found, as much as she hated killing freely. Her scream was not only to startle the slaver but to alert the nearby watchers and her men of what she had stumbled into.

The noise she made as she leapt through the water roused the man from his frozen surprise. He pulled a pair of small, deadly-looking daggers from his belt then he too stepped into the stream.

Circling, the pair waded through the knee-deep stream staring wearily at the other, waiting for the first move.

Kel relished the way this situation could be solved with action so made the first strike; swinging her blade upwards in an arc. The slaver blocked her sword, crossing both of his daggers before him. And so the fight began.

Time seemed to slow for Keladry as she fought. She became able to see each move the man made at half-speed, allowing her to line up a strong defence and form her return move in her mind.

The pair traded blows in the water mindful of the slippery stones beneath their feet which might make the battle over for one of them prematurely, if they were not careful.

Kel admired how the man was able to employ the speed of his weaponry – he attacked with quick, lightning blows and strikes then darted back out of her way before she could find an opening in his defence. Gritting her teeth in determination, Kel swept Griffin down from above the slaver's head attempting to exercise the increased reach of her blade compared to the man's in her attack. Stupidly, she was glad for the fight – the first in a while. The slaver, rather than foolishly attempting to parry her heavy shot, forced her to end it quickly by bringing both of his arms under her protective steel guards as if to drag the blades across her belly. Kel leapt back out of reach and then moved forward again to engage in the fight.

Both had a few slight cuts and grazes, scoring them equally in the battle on treacherous ground. Already Kel had lost her footing a couple of times and had had to twist both body and blade to keep balance. The slaver had performed the same tactic several times too.

It was not simply that they were equally matched, for it was not so. Lady Keladry's sword-fighting skills were much superior to those of the man before her – that was clear. Yet the battle was taking place upon such difficult terrain; wet, slippery, smooth and submerged cobbles made things complicated. As a Tyran, the man seemed to have more ease in water combat than she. Plus, Kel could not risk lunging forward to attack the man's exposed torso without risking losing her footing and falling.

Ensuring that this man did not relay their position was too important to gamble on those sorts of moves.

And then the slaver did just that. Having knocked aside Kel's blade after a stabbing shot at his left side, he rallied forward suddenly in a sudden quick set of steps and jumps through the water. Kel reeled back quickly to maintain enough distance between them, yet forget to make her steps sure and supported – she shuffled and skidded backwards, losing her balance.

All it took from the slaver before her was an arcing swoop of both of his blades downwards, causing her to fall. The pain of twin cuts that ran in arcs across her shoulders and collarbone flared for only a moment until she hit the chilling water, then the stream floor. Her head hit the very stones that had lost her the match and the world clouded with black. Her vision swam not only from the water above her head and then Kel submitted to it all...

* * *

Gasping.

Kel pulled in a deep lungful of air wondering why her body seemed so grateful for it.

Slowly she began to become aware of the different complaints of her torso where she lay, beginning with the sharp and sore cuts she knew had sealed her defeat. Her head too ached dully – no doubt from where it had connected with the bottom. Other limbs and parts complained quietly of bruises and light grazes but Kel was relieved; her mental assessment of injuries had come up in her opinion with only a small list.

She realised that she'd better figure out where she was so that she could go after the man; she was still lying with her eyes closed. Kel had had enough darkness for one day.

Slowly, she pulled her heavy lids apart then winced at the bright light that filtered through to her consciousness. She was in her tent.

_How did I get here?_

"Kel? Can you hear me? Kel?"

The panic in the masculine voice made her want to smile ever so slightly; it was nice that he didn't seem angry anymore. Then the realisation that she may have jeopardised their whole mission screamed through her head and all amusement left her. Dimly she was away of a pair of cool hands on her forehead, her neck, her wrist assessing her condition no-doubt – but there was _no time!_

"Kel? Listen to me - what hurts?"

Guilt and panic filled Kel's throat in equal measures making it difficult for her to breathe. All she could do was she gasp aloud as she pulled herself up to a sitting position despite the complaining muscles.

"Kel? Lie back down!"

She put her hands to her collarbone gingerly, expecting to feel the ragged edges of the cuts and blood. Yet instead she found the pristine surface of a bandage... and nothing else – her shirt was gone. It seemed that from collarbone to her mid-drift had been bandaged. _Maybe I obtained more cuts than I thought..._

If not for the circumstances, Kel might have felt embarrassed. However all that registered in those seconds was a distinct level of unease at what had occurred.

"What happened?" She whispered quietly, checking herself over gently. Domitan sat back on his hunches and watched her assessment closely without lifting his eyes as he spoke.

"We found you washed up near the third watch post. I heard you shouting but when I reached the sound the area was empty. How did you get these injuries Kel? What happened?"

Ashamed, she realised he didn't know what had occurred by the stream – how she had let the man get away. Her eyes dropped to the floor of the tent where they examined the patterns in the weave.

"I was sitting, thinking, washing," She started hesitantly then paused trying to clear her throat enough to talk. "A man appeared, on the other side of the stream. He seemed as surprised as I was-"

"I'm guessing he wasn't one of the men," Dom remarked dryly and Kel winced at the tone. She wasn't sure whether he intended to be cruel but that was how it felt. His words cut at her conscience more deeply than any level of the self-loathing she was feeling at that moment.

"No I've never seen him before not even with the slavers – but he was definitely Tyran."

"And he gave you these cuts?" Dom asked sharply and Kel nearly shrank back from him in the tight space.

"Yes but they don't matter-"

"They will if the stream water has infected them," Dom interrupted but Kel waved him off.

"Even so they still don't matter; the one thing I needed to do was make sure that he couldn't report back that he had seen us – where we were – and I failed! I lost! I-"

Kel felt suddenly weaker; her head was pounding loudly at her temples, beating drums inside her skull. She lifted her hands to the skin there and pressed gently, hoping to relieve the tension.

"What is it? What hurts?" Dom asked quickly moving forward, hands raised to help. She waved him off but he didn't go far.

"Nothing it's fine. We need to stop the man, we need to find him and make sure that the camp is secure!"

"You need to rest, you look pale." Domitan pleaded with her, placing his hands lightly on her ribs and pushing her backwards.

"It doesn't matter!"

"It does if you're no use to us for the rest of the mission!"

Dom pushed at her more insistently trying to get her to lie down. Kel's impatience with him and the pulsing in her veins wrapped around her tightly making her feel nauseous.

"Don't touch me!" Kel snapped but even to her own ears, it sounded weak and feeble. The arms that were propped up behind her for support wobbled then collapsed, landing her back on the floor. She closed her eyes for a moment to deal with the pulsing in her head...

And when she woke up Captain Domitan had vanished.

She must have fallen unconscious again she realised – she had that distinctly awake feeling you get when opening your eyes again for the first time for a while.

Kel didn't feel as panicked anymore; she knew that she had been out for quite some time – enough that either Dom or Francis would have attempted to correct her mistake in any way that they could. Action would have been taken while she had been unconscious – there was less need for her to rouse herself so immediately in search of the man.

Outside her tent she could hear voices, most of whom she recognised. Soldiers were forming teams to search the area around the stream for both signs of inhabitation and the man. They had found water flasks beside the stream, near where Dom had told her he had searched for her and Griffin too. Kel smiled slightly – atleast that she had not lost her dear old sword in all of this.

Francis had also doubled the guard around the camp, reassigning men from the duties rota to sentry duty. All men in the camp were walking around armed and wearing light armour she learned, something else Sir Francis had introduced straight away.

As Kel listened to the murmurs, grasping what she could through the canvas of what was happening it seemed to her that Francis had acted with swift, decisive steps. She was relieved he had managed to stay cool and calm in the situation, as she had expected so – no man became a Knight if they could not.

Though most of her anxiety had been eased, Kel still felt annoyance with herself that she had let the man get away. Her embarrassment had subsided – after all the floor of that stream had made the fight even – but her anger and annoyance aimed inwards still remained.

It was these feelings that caused her to snap her eyes shut again and relax in pretend-sleep when the flaps of her tent first started to move.

Whoever was checking on pushed both flaps aside completely and then there was quiet. Faintly it seemed to Kel there was the scruff and added presence within the tent as the man dropped to his knees allowing for a better view at her in the tent. Kel prayed to the Goddess to look believably unconscious so as to have more time alone – time to deal with the fact that she could soon have the blood of men on her hands for her mistake. After a moment the curtains rustled again leaving behind only fresh air carrying a subtle masculine scent.

Kel sighed. She had to prepare herself for that eventuality being more likely now. Every soldier or Knight in command of men had to buffer themselves slightly to the chance that people would die on their watch. Now though she needed to realistically face that this scenario may have become more likely. She imagined a vile muddied mess creeping closer and closer to the scenario she now found herself in with Dom and Francis – closer to polluting it with its negativity. Kel refused to accept that it could attach itself to the situation within her mind. If it did, she didn't know whether she would be able to look at either man in the eyes again without feeling remorse.

With a jolt of recognition she realised that one of those very men had joined the conversation nearby to her tent; Francis. His authoritative tone carried easily stirring within her, despite the fears she contemplated, all sorts of emotions that raised her spirits. Her heart swelled inexplicably and it seemed, strangely, that all of her aches eased slightly. How was it that she could find so much support and feeling in this crazy place they found themselves in; this triangle, this predicament, this limbo? It shouldn't be so difficult for her to choose, rationally, yet it was. After all she reminded herself – _think of how Dom has_ _treated you. Think of what you told Neal only days ago! Think of how little you know of Sir Francis; you've only been acquainted with him for a few sun cycles and yet how fair have you let things slip? _

However it seemed to Kel atleast, that slowly and surely she was making headway with Dom again. They were speaking again now weren't they? By no means did she ever want the sort of relationship they had once had again, but she did miss him. Before everything had gone so wrong he had been a good, close friend to her; one that she needed with Sir Nealan now so far away. He had been there when she had needed him in some of the most intense moments of her life before they had ever become close, _close._

_Speak of the Goddess-cursed... _Kel thought as another deep voice joined to foray outside.

It seemed that upon entering her head, her two men then entered reality. Both were there now – she could hear them. It seemed that Francis had returned to the camp having made the initial sweep when Kel had been recovered, and when she had passed out again Dom had led a team out – only to return now. Francis was heading the command central and Domitan was organising the men. Kel realised that if not for her, these two would be getting on famously on this mission; they worked so well together. With a sinking heart the realisation hit her: it was only her making things difficult here.

With another jolt Kel listened as Dom enquired after her. Francis, in a somewhat chilly tone it seemed to Kel, told him that she hadn't woken up again yet. This only made her more certain. The pair could have been put to work together – Francis had the ability to oversee an issue whilst Dom excelled seeing the trees amongst the forest. The only reason they were talking tensely now was her. Was this another way she was jeopardising the mission?

Kel's breathing started to accelerate again as she willingly allowed panic to set in again. In a sickening way she was glad to feel the dull ache as she tested and starved her lungs: for the twisting revelations her mind had unearthed.

Goddess, why did it suddenly seem that she was causing more harm than good?

"Sssh Kel, everything's ok...Calm down and take a deep breath for me..."

She would have jumped had she not been so caught up in the thoughts whirling around her brain. Open wide, her eyes wheeled around the tent until they were reunited with Francis' face. He had managed to enter the tent while she'd been thinking and was now kneeled close by her head.

"That's it – slowly..."

His face held loud, open and clear emotion for her to read, to play with her conscience; concern, fear and pain reminded her that she would cause more damage if she made herself worse now before she could make things right. His hands gripped hers where they lay on her stomach. The grip was vice-like; like Francis could hold onto her consciousness for her.

"Good girl, just relax ok?" Kel nodded, mouth open panting now. He nodded wordlessly seemingly content to wait for the panic attack to subside. For a while they sat in silence, the slight murmur of Kel's breathing the only disturbance but even that quieted eventually.

Though she was loathed to admit it due to all the pain she was causing with her indecision, Francis' very presence at her side made Kel feel better. Whilst she hated this on the one hand, on the other it frightened and excited her all at the same time. Francis as a person seemed to take up more space than there was in her little tent making it seem even more vital that he was there – more so than the time spent together by the bonfire the night before. Kel chided herself for the odd ideas she was devising and steered herself away to concentrate on the moment.

By the time she had stopped gasping, Francis' expression had calmed somewhat itself – losing the inane fear and gaining a caring patient facade that relaxed Kel further. His hands where they lay with hers were rubbing slow circles on the palm of one with a thumb whilst fingers drew invisible paths and swirls on the back. It was enchanting: almost lulling Kel back into slumber.

When her eyes finally met Francis' full on he smiled; an expression so full of relief it almost broke Kel's heart.

"Better?" He murmured low in his throat, more of a rumble than a word. Kel simply nodded again but the action was stronger this time – more in control.

One of his hands travelled slowly upwards, departing from her hand, yet it never disconnected from her skin. Instead it left a trail of tingling nerves and shivers in its wake as it first swept over her ribs, journeyed across her inside-elbow and up her arm, traced her shoulder – delicate over the bandages – and sailed up her neck. Kel was sure he left a burning visible trail and even though he had been eager for her to start breathing normally again, he had stolen her breath away.

His large and rough thumb made first contact with her jaw, yet his other fingers were swift to follow. Soon his giant hand cradled the side of her face delicately as if she might break, yet the touch was so infinitely tender that Kel found herself turning under the palm to kiss its middle.

She looked up and smiled hopefully, praying to the Gods that he would not be disappointed in her.

Francis looked heavenward, murmuring as if in prayer and then closed his eyes for a moment. On reopening them he brought his face down to hers gently. Suddenly she was embraced by his warmth and scent as his other arm reached round to support her. Like a doll, Kel willingly moved under his direction. Francis carefully lifted her until she was sitting up and against him, then he rested his forehead against Kel's temple with a deep, contented sigh.

"Now what did I tell you," Francis murmured against the skin there.

Kel's breath evaporated as she felt his lips rub and brand the words to her features. His effect on her was overwhelming and she felt her eyes want to close at the power of it, yet she resisted for fear of losing his face from her view.

"What did I make you promise to do for me, hmm?"

"I-"

Kel was lost for words – something that only Francis seemed able to achieve.

"You promised me Kel, that you'd keep yourself safe for me. You promised!"

"I know," Kel replied quietly. "In a position similar to this if I remember correctly..."

Francis chuckled quietly against her – warm fronds of moist breath curling and encapsulating the pair of them with their warmth.

"Yes, I do believe it was... Don't forget your promise Kel – remember what we said: the chance to _know_ when this is all over with...The chance to _try."_

Kel smiled and brought her hands up to his face. Never had she felt as bold as she now did around him – he seemed to spark something inside of her, a part that she had been missing for a long time. All that she had been worrying about moments ago seemed less important, more of an unhappy coincidence. What there was between her and Francis amazed her – the way that she had found something so precious, that so many others had not achieved: a true connection with someone.

And whatever happened between them, though she couldn't even contemplate what would happen or how she would feel if she never saw Francis again, she was going to take as much from the moment as she could. She was tired of having to worry in her own life when she was a pro-worrier by profession.

Hold Francis' head firmly between her own two palms, feeling his pulse beating against her skin, she began to feel more in control and calm again – rational even. Slowly and with his help, she half manoeuvred herself round to face him, to study his eyes and his expression, in an attempt to truly know what he was thinking.

Satisfied with what she found, Kel smiled at him flirtatiously; hoping that in that grin there was everything he had given her. She wished for Francis to see how much she flourished and was revived under his nurture. When he grinned back, he hid the slight surprise he felt at this sudden burst of forth-rightness from his Kel. With that she tipped his head up and moved in to meet him.

She kissed him with a renewed sense of vivacity, drive and passion that had not been borne from her dip in the stream. Like a flower under the gaze of the sun's rays, Kel found herself unfurling petals of spectacular colour she never would have believed herself to possess.

_

* * *

_

And there we have it – back to where we were before. I'm much happier now, thanks for all sticking with me; I think it flows better than it did before. I hope you agree with me and think it was worth it, as I do :-)

_From now on updates may not be daily but they will be as often as I can make them... Now I'm back here I want to drive on forwards too! _

_Love to hear from y'all though I do realise that if you've already reviewed a chapter it won't let you do it again._

_Still the next chapter will be brand new won't it? Then I can hear from you all again, lol._

_Thanks again for all your kind messages: it was a month yesterday that my friend died and doing this, having a project supported so many lovely people, to focus on got me through the day..._

_Till Chapter Twenty One!_

_X x x_


	22. Chapter TwentyOne: Back Up

**Chapter Twenty**_**-**_**One – Back Up**

Breathless and light-headed they parted, allowing Kel to swallow hard and dispel the desire coursing through her system. With a silent pledge that this wasn't over, she turned to the matter at hand with a heavy heart.

"How long was I out?"

Francis sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before pulling away from her for just long enough to sit by her side. When comfortable he immediately recaptured her hands, his callous skin rubbing reassuring friction against her own.

"Which time; there have been three so far today..." They both smiled at his intentionally light answer but Kel needed to hear exactly what damage she had caused.

_Enough with the mental torture, _she chided herself. _Now is a time for action if I ever saw one._

"All of them, any of them – they all matter. What have I missed?"

"The first time," Francis answered immediately. "Domitan thinks he found you only moments after the Tyran had fled. You woke up about an hour later and it's now mid-day. But don't panic – we boys have been busy while you slept."

Kel grimaced, it was worse than she thought. She'd been out for half the day – most likely the Tyran was back at his camp arming up for an attack.

"Hey," Francis chided her. "I _said_ it's not all bad!"

"I still managed to give away the camp's location... We have to move."

"You've not heard what we found yet..."

Kel shivered suddenly yet it was nothing to do with the dark tone of his words. Francis looked at her anxiously, staring at the goosebumps he raised when he ran his hands along her forearms.

A moment later Kel found herself surrounded a jacket that smelled very much of him and enveloped her shoulders in an embrace. Francis watched her triumphantly as she clutched it closer when another shiver hit.

"Don't look so damn smug," she muttered darkly. His gallant chivalry warmed her heart but her self-reliant spirit had taken a battering in the last hours. "You're not the one sitting here in just a bandage, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Heard that..." Francis chuckled quietly, his eyes catching hers in a piercing, heated stare.

"Good." Kel murmured causing him to grin.

"And I had noticed actually..."

Francis' voice trailed off as his eyes focused on her torso. Kel didn't know whether to grimace or to be elated. His eyes left their own mark on her yet she couldn't fully enjoy it; the bandage was a visible reminder of the error she had made. Kel pulled the jacket tighter and Francis' eyes rose to her face again sheepishly, from where he had been scrutinising her.

"What did you find?"

All humour left Francis' face as he answered the question she so urgently needed answered.

"We found your man from the stream, the Tyran..."

Kel stopped breathing.

Allowing the smallest bit of hope to spark within her, she marvelled at the possibility that perhaps she had not caused irreversible damage. Mind reeling Kel stared blankly at Francis waiting for him to continue, however he was simply watching her reaction.

Blue eyes followed every movement on Kel's face and examined with clinical care the way that the creases of panic and unease seemed to vanish from the expression of a woman he had never seen less than steely and professional. If his Kel was unhappy and anxious about what had happened, it meant bad things for the rest of them.

"But," Kel spluttered, thoughts still in a jumble. "I never, I didn't-"

"Well you did something," Francis interrupted her. "About a mile from where they found you, Durg and the boys found the chap in a pool of his own blood dead. They called for Domitan where he was supervising your transfer and between them they guessed it was the man who had cut you. They said he had twin blades in his hands, sound right?"

"Francis, I didn't get close enough to do that kind of damage!" Keladry said gasping aloud.

She liked to think that the emotion that pooled in his gaze then as he spoke was pride; pride in her and what she had managed to do when fighting for her life. Francis looked down at her with a small smile gracing his lips; his hand tightening slightly to heat her to the core with reassurance.

"Evidently you did. Even on difficult terrain, our Lady Knight managed to inflict enough wounds to rid the world of another force of evil. Against all odds Kelhen, you managed to get him, before getting taken down by the stream of course!"

Kel poked Francis playfully in the side with her free hand and a small rumble of laughter echoed round the tent.

Now slightly eased, she relaxed further against the side of her fellow Knight taking comfort in his presence. Without her anxiety she could feel the dull ache of her wound more precisely; particularly the two different pains within it. There was a slight burning across her chest where she imagined the stitches held the ragged wound together but there was also a more demanding flare of discomfort and pain at one end of the wound – on the left. She sighed, probably a slight infection from the stream water but if they had sown her up it must be clearing. She was lucky to be alive really.

"Do you think we should move the camp anyway, to be on the safe-side?" Kel asked Francis quietly looking at their intertwined hands and simply allowing the thoughts in her head to pass into being.

"Don't worry yourself about it now, everything is fine – took care of everything as always didn't you?"

Francis accompanied his words by soothingly lifting a hand to Kel's face and cupping her cheek with his palm.

The Lady Knight leant in to his caring touch and attempted to empty her mind of everything besides the man next to her. Most of the thoughts from her earlier panic attack had been appeased by him; he had seen what she needed to know in order to truly calm down. Gods she was thankful to have this, to have him for times like this, when she truly needed him.

A rustle of canvas at the door drew the pair apart.

In the instant before Kel's new visitor entered, Francis shifted his body slightly to face the tent door and conceal Kel from whomsoever was about to come through the entrance. Her embarrassment at being sat there in very little was comforted by this gesture – part of her, the feminine part, wanted to hide behind him.

Yet as the doors of the tent parted to reveal Domitan, Keladry had to swallow another flare of embarrassment that she hated herself for feeling. There was nothing wrong with Francis being in her tent, there was nothing strange about the three commanders of the force convening to talk.

"I thought I heard voices!" Dom greeted her with a relieved smile. "Are you staying awake this time Lady Kel?"

Both Knights laughed at his words quietly, exchanging a glance and shuffling over to make room for their new guest to sit.

Grateful to see none of the uneasiness still present between her two men, Kel was truly glad to see Captain Domitan again.

"Bet on it Captain," Kel replied lightly. "Sir Francis was just filling me in on what has occurred while I've been out... Dom, I didn't do enough damage to kill that man."

The Own Captain frowned slightly and shook his head at her words, no trace of doubt in his manner or expression.

"You must have done, he seemed to have died from blood loss caused by his injuries. Several of his cuts looked very nasty; there wasn't anything strange about that aspect of his death."

"There was something else strange to you?" Francis asked. The conversation flowing around Kel brought back a feeling of normality she realised she had been lacking.

As Sir Francis spoke, she felt something warm press over her hand on the floor. A glance revealed it to be his larger palm, cocooning hers. Out of Domitan's gaze this heartening gesture by Francis allowed Kel to relax further back into something near to her normal calm state.

"The way we found the Tyran definitely spooked some of the men and seemed odd to me." Dom replied.

"What did you find?"

"A strange silver liquid was mingling with his blood near some of his cuts when we found him - his chest wounds in particular. Some of the men said they thought they saw it change colour ever so slightly as they looked at it..."

"Did you manage to collect any of it? Whatever the substance was, I'd like to see it," Kel remarked frowning. Things in the Tyran and Tortallan No Man's Land were definitely getting stranger by the day.

"We were able to collect a little in a jar, in case we meet up with someone with the knowledge or magic to examine it."

The three leaders sat for a moment in silence exchanging long glances. Each was lost in his or her own deep thoughts really, trying to understand what could possibly be going on here. At last Francis looked up and while squeezing Kel's hand to regain her attention, he nodded his head at Dom.

"We need a mage here then... but mark what happens from now on with care: what we are uncovering here I am sure, is like nothing ever experienced in the Realm."

Sir Francis' words seemed to signal to the Captain of the Own that their momentary conference was over, and he stood as straight as he could within the compact tent.

"I'll go and keep the camp in running order then," Domitan joked lightly looking down and Lady Keladry. "Rest and recuperate for you scared us all this morning Lady Knight..."

Guilt and shame rising in her stomach, Kel began to shake her head even before the words had finished leaving Dom's mouth. Gods, she had been unconscious for the entire morning. Now however she was determined to get up and demonstrate for the other men that she was truly fine.

"I have slept enough thank you Domitan. I shall-"

"Kel your cuts are deep and severe!" Francis interrupted her exasperatedly. "You need to allow them a chance to at least begin the healing process. We need you in full strength for whatever the days to come hold."

"And I feel better already," Kel smiled to lighten her words. "But I will come and review the men when I have seen how bad I got scratched. You both know it will take more than this to keep me in my tent all day!"

Determined in her course of action and mind focused solely on the task at hand, Kel passed Francis' jacket back to him without another words as the men watched. She sat up straighter and pushed the blanket over her into her lap to examine first off, the doctoring that had been done while she slept.

White linen bandages were wrapped round her from armpit to navel covering the gashes she had felt but not seen following the bottom of her chest, below her heart, and her modesty. Kel was surprised to mark how white the skin of her shoulders was as she checked the bandages' tension. Instead of the deep tanned colour from hours under the sun, for once she seemed pale and fragile as was usually expected of noble women. The irony of this did not escape Keladry.

As she began to pry away the top-most bandage, Domitan cleared his throat and spoke.

"I'll let you examine your injuries in peace then if you are so determined Lady Knight, and assemble all of the men who are not patrolling or acting as sentries so that they may be reassured by the sight of their Lady Kel up and around already."

His words made Kel look up and smile brightly. She noticed how guarded his expression was but that none of the uneasiness of earlier was present. The relief he seemed to feel at her awakening seemed genuine.

She thanked him for his courtesy and then paused wondering whether to allow the sentiments drifting in her mind into fruition. Before she could over consider it or her could leave, Kel continued quietly with a smaller version of her smile.

"And thank you too Domitan, for coming to my aid so quickly. Though I may not have been awake at the time, I have been told now of your actions. I'm sure that your instinctive and efficient actions made up for any damage I could have inflicted on our mission..."

Captain Domitan turned at her words and moved the step or two to the canvas tent door with clipped angry movements. At the exit he lifted the flap as the remaining occupants watched on in silence but then turned back to regard the wounded Kel as if on a second thought.

His eyes were stormy but before she could begin to speculate the course for his concern, Dom spoke in a quiet angry voice that made up for its limited volume in vehemence.

"Stop being so ridiculous!"

With his parting words still hanging in the air, the Own-squadron Captain took his leave of the tent. Kel shook his words off, refusing to believe for a second that the idea that her defeat could have been anything less than damaging to their mission; although thus far the men seemed to have compensated for her actions, she had found in the past that any mistake always cost bitterly in the field.

Smiling at the Knight that remained by her side Kel shifted on the floor to place her back to the canvas flap.

Francis' had sat through the whole exchange in silence and was now currently regarding her with an eyebrow raised in what seemed like warring confusion and amusement. Kel realised with a slight jolt that perhaps this meant that the tension between Domitan and Francis still existed slightly – why else would her Knight be amused by Keladry's dismissal of the Captain?

"Why don't you go too? Then I can see how much damage I've managed to do and you'll have gotten a full update on what's going on..."

Francis shook his head, absent-mindedly picking at his jacket where it sat in his lap.

"You're going to need someone to redo those bandages for you; not even you will be able to properly wrap linens around your own wound. Not without causing yourself more harm anyway... Let me be the one to help you."

Kel didn't know how to reply to his words. Anything she began to say dried up in her throat and she couldn't get the words out. Looking up into his eyes Kel forget any and every thought in her mind, caught up in what she saw and what made her speechless: the bottomless pit of heat and fire and emotion on view in his gaze. In that moment Kel truly believed that Francis' eyes were windows into his soul; and what she could see was pure and good, and set her ablaze.

With a small smile Francis picked up one of Kel's wrists where it was lying motionless in her lap. Heart in her mouth, she watched as the Knight sat close by her side lifted her arm to his mouth and placed a small kiss over where her pulse beat erratically against the membrane of her skin.

If she hadn't viewed the action feminine and silly, Kel would have thought she would have swooned right then in her tent, their surroundings having melted into nothingness.

"You had better turn round a moment then," Kel said brokenly after a moment. Unable to refuse him or his help in that moment, the Lady Knight did retain enough sense to try and light-heartedly lift what was threatening to become a very heated moment.

"Of course..."

Francis' flustered answer accompanied a scrambling shuffle by the Knight to get to his knees and to place himself between Kel and the door, watching for more visitors. Kel was thankful for his eagerness and slight embarrassment for it both dissolved some of the electricity between them and warmed her heart.

As she unwound the bandages, wincing only when the layer closest to her skin resisted her tugging, Kel spoke to try and comfort Francis further of her returning health and strength.

"...You know I only slept this long because of the knock to the head Francis, not because of these cuts. Though they do seem nasty on first glance, they are just flesh wounds..."

The words Kel spoke were in part also to convince herself. Removing her bandage had caused one section of the right-to-left swipe to seep a little again. Truly they did look worse than they were in actuality; if you looked you could see that they were shallow though ragged and at a strange angle.

Francis' head whipped round and he stared at her incredulously.

"Just flesh wounds? Do not dismiss those cuts so easily Keladry! When I first saw you I thought someone had tried to remove your heart from your chest! Any lower and you would have been gutted."

Hastily clutching the heap of bandages to her front Kel did not speak, and merely raised an eyebrow at him to hide her agitation at his words and actions. Despite all she had felt and experienced with her Knight, Kel was not ready for the scenario they now found themselves in; what if he thought her weak in her current predicament?

Gazing into Francis' eyes, the Lady Knight watched as the agitation and annoyance in his expression turned slowly to chagrin. As he blushed so did she, although probably for a different reason. Whilst she assumed his unease was from turning around when she wore so little, hers was borne from her annoyance at the very discomfort she felt. Kel felt far out of her comfort zone; it was all very strange.

"If you don't mind..." Kel whispered quietly hoping fervently that Francis both turned back around, and did not.

"You've reopened the wound..."

Glancing down despite the fact that she could feel one of her wounds leaking, Kel gulped in an attempt to clear her throat. She did not like the strange mix of feelings coursing through her system accompanied by such a loss of control – it was most unlike her.

When she finally looked up again Francis was much closer than he had been previously. Silently he had managed to move himself from close to the door, to by her side again. Keladry watched with a dry mouth as he bent his head to examine the cuts closer. She silently allowed him to poke and prod at her wounds, keeping a check on the heat in his gaze; she swore to herself if it increased any further she would order him from the tent. Neither of them was prepared for what might happen if she did not.

"They need cleaning again Kelhen; will you let me do it?"

Francis glanced up at her, unbending slightly from his stoop to look into her eyes. The small smile gracing his lips made Kel hesitate in her answer.

On all her missions in the past she had done her own doctoring to prevent discomfort amongst the men; no-one had ever offered to help her when she was conscious enough to do it for herself. Now here was a man, who didn't seem to care what was thought of them here alone in her tent, who was concerned about her welfare.

Nodding silently, Kel closed her eyes as she felt the first warm touch of Sir Francis' fingers against her wounded skin.

She vowed to endure his piercing, caring touch in this silent unmoving state for fear of the ill-timed heat he was awakening within her.

* * *

A short while later Lady Keladry exited her tent with only a little help.

Having tightly bound her wounds again in bandages Sir Francis had gently slipped a loose shirt around her shoulders, seeing that he could not prevent her from venturing outside now she was aware of the extent of her injuries. Only once before they had left had he asked her again to stay and rest but seeing the determination in her refusal, the Knight had changed his tact and instead insisted that he help her in her review of the men, intending to stay by her side at all times.

Standing only a short distance from her tent, Kel paused for a moment to watch the activity which was occurring within the camp.

Men all around her were hurrying purposefully about one task or another; some seemed to be helping to erect more tents while many seemed to be on their way out to guard posts. In the centre by one of the fires, Kel could just make out the bent head of Domitan surrounded by other men looking at a map. Without her the camp seemed to have sprung into bustling urgency with some need she did not understand.

Too much bustling urgency, Kel realised with a jolt of shock.

Even with her bout of unconsciousness earlier that day, the Lady Knight was sure that she was not wrong in thinking that there were more men around her than she had been leading for the last couple of days.

Indeed Kel could see a brand new group of the Own setting up several tents on the far side of the campfires. Only a small splutter in her breathing revealed Kel's surprise as another woman walked past where she and Francis was standing: it seemed a group of Riders had also joined them.

While her mind reeled at the news of company, Keladry still managed to smile weakly at the men who waved or smiled in her direction as they worked. All seemed relieved to see her up and about again, though many did mark how pale their Lady Knight looked.

"It seems we have visitors," Kel remarked quietly to Francis as she began to walk slowly towards the fires. She studiously ignored how the Knight's hands hovered by her elbow and back as if in preparation to catch her, preferring to try and garner the important news she had not been given already.

"Yes, back-up arrived while you were unconscious, although it remains to be seen how long they will stay with us for."

"And you did not mention this to me already?" Despite her calm tone, the Lady Knight fumed internally at being kept from such important news.

"You had only just awoken and had several serious wounds; me and Domitan decided it would be better for you to be told after you had rested again."

"I needed to know – I would have gotten up sooner to see to their leader!"

"That was what we were afraid of..." Francis' dry remark was accompanied, in Kel's mind, by a slightly tight expression which only managed to emphasise his opinion of the choices she had made since opening her eyes.

"I need to speak to their leader Francis," Kel replied quietly drawing to a stop to look up into his face. "Please."

Francis sighed quietly and dragged a hand down his face. With a jolt, Keladry noted how tired he seemed all of a sudden; this morning he had seemed so jovial when they had awoken together by the very campfire that they had been walking towards. Now though, after everything which had occurred in such a short amount of time he seemed ready for his bedroll again.

"I will try and find him for you, but Kelhen, the news he carries is something which you should really face fully in health and awake. Gods know it made me feel ill and I am perfectly healthy..."

Grasping one of his warm and reassuringly calloused hands with both of her own Kel smiled at him; trying to look healthier than she truly felt.

"Thank you Francis."

Sighing once more, her Knight squeezed her hands and then turned to find her the Knight who had brought them back-up.

Keladry watched his retreating back, trying to push all the thoughts of everything which had occurred over the last hour from her mind, and to focus solely on what the arrival of more men could mean. If the new Knight's information had caused such a reaction in Sir Francis, what would it do to her? She needed to prepare herself and to pull together a Yamani Mask – something she used to be so proficient in, before Francis had broken through all her defences and affected her to her very core.

Whatever news the back-up brought must be of something no-one had ever encountered before, that was the only thing that could explain it. Seasoned fighters like Domitan and Francis were not easily moved. Coming against something unknown was every fighter's worst nightmare – something that you did not how to immobilise and kill.

The very idea caused Kel's chest to tighten and she had to put a hand out onto a nearby tree to prop herself up as she swayed slightly.

With an unknown foe there were more chances of things going wrong, of people getting hurt or killed. Kel steeled herself to the task of preparing herself to get casualties under her command, for people she cared for to be harmed or lost. Whatever news the Knight had, it would mean that things were advancing – that Raoul had perhaps made a break-through.

"Kelhen you need to calm down." The words were accompanied by a hand rubbing her back.

Wordlessly Kel looked up into the fatherly face of Durg as her breathing continued to rasp in and out of her throat.

"What are you doing up and about so soon? You need to-"

"Don't say I need to rest! I feel fine!" Kel muttered as she tried to slow her breathing. She realised now that as she had become lost in her thoughts she had allowed herself to panic slightly over all that was occurring; something which seemed to be happening more often lately. She put it down to her wounds. "I need to see whoever is leading the back-up."

"I would have thought you had slept enough Lady Knight; I was surprised to hear when I arrived that you were resting in your tent... perhaps I should have believed those who told me you had changed over the years..."

The voice that came from behind her rang through Keladry's head, stirring loose memories she had not recalled in years. As she turned, she steeled herself for what she would find; straightening her back unconsciously and raising her shoulders.

With Durg by her side, Kel pressed a polite but stiff smile to her face and braced herself to deal with the man who had returned with Sir Francis; her old training master Sir Wyldon of Cavall.

* * *

_Hey guys!_

_I realise it's been weeks since I last updated, and you all know how much I'm sorry for that! :-) It's a very very long story and probs one that would confused most of you lol..._

_I apologise if this needs a little bit of tweaking spelling/grammar-wise, but I was so keen to get it up, I decided to forgo final FINAL checks. Atleast it's an update... if not completely dictionary-correct. I'm not completely happy with this one tbh... it seems a little off but I couldn't figure out for what reason... So I put it up in the interests of the story, to keep us going... espech since I go to uni this week! :-O I know I'm scared too!_

_X x x_


	23. Chapter TwentyTwo: Dead

_Hey Guys!_

_Merry Christmas and Happy New Year lol, I am soo sorry about how long it has taken me to update but you can blame damn university life - it just never stops! Anyway I've been writing this one for the last week and a half so it's about times it's out there for you guys to read - and REVIEW! Pretty pretty please... I'll make a deal: give me fifteen reviews of this (which I don't think is too much to ask :-P ) and I'll update within the next month despite all the deadlines for coursework I have._

_Deal?_

_Much Fanfic Love!_

_X x x_

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Dead**

Drawing herself up to her full height, Keladry turned to face the man who represented all the opposition she had faced down in the past.

Wyldon of Cavall had created the most resistance to her training and her knighthood. Despite his supposed softening towards her in the war, things between them were still a little stiff; the Lady Knight found it difficult to completely release the animosity she felt towards her old training master.

Before Kel could open her mouth Francis spoke quickly to his companion.

"As I mentioned Sir Wyldon, our Lady Knight had a bit of a run-in earlier and has only just fully regained her senses. Her first thought was to see to the men and the mission, there is little to find fault in, from my view."

Without breaking his eye contact with his old pupil, Cavall raised an eyebrow and nodded in Francis' direction.

"Loyal isn't he?" he remarked dryly.

"I hear you have news from Lord Raoul?" Kel replied without remarking on the words of either man. She took a little pride in the mask she was able to create, hiding the annoyance and embarrassment she felt at Wyldon's words from him. Although a small part at the back of her mind whispered of how Francis had managed to destroy her Yamani calm in every other way, Kel was reassured that she still had the skill of concealment she had moulded over the years.

"Yes, shall we sit with Raoul's Captain over there? By the way, I did not notice him at the main briefing on the Tortall border, how did he manage to find his way onto such an important task?"

Wyldon led the way to the fire without waiting for any response.

Around him both Kel and Francis felt like teenagers; he had a presence that reduced the most authoritative of Knights to fumbling students once more. He sat himself by Domitan next to the campfire and with a look cleared the soldiers from every other seat.

Kel and Francis sat opposite, steeling themselves for the reprimanding. With a slightly panicked glance at his fellow leaders Domitan exchanged pleasantries with the Knight of Cavall. Kel waited poised with her mouth open, attempting to jump into the conversation and bring the pair back on task. Just as her chance presented itself she was halted by a hard, smooth pressure in her hand. Looking down she saw a small brown pastry being pressed into her hand by Sir Francis – the lunch she had missed.

He had saved some for her.

His small thought for her steeled Keladry enough to break into the two men's conversation without waiting for another polite place to chime in.

How very daring of me,Kel thought sarcastically and despaired at the effect of politics and social expectation on her job.

"Sir Wyldon, what is the news? What did the other sweeps find?"

"Raoul has sent me to gather your two, should I say three, parties in and return you to the flock. The rest of the main group is gathered not too far from here-"

"Inside No Man's Land?" Kel demanded, in between bites of her lunch.

"Inside No Man's Land," Wyldon replied leaning his elbows on his knees and moving closer towards the fire. "The part that's been judged safe anyway. Every single sweep returned signs of abnormal magical activity; things none of the men had seen before. Even the most experienced. The Tyran Republic has been informed of our findings, but judged it too circumstantial to move from their policy of military abstinence."

"What kind of findings?" Domitan asked.

"The kind that you would not believe; until you hear directly from the men you won't understand – so vivid are their words that it is clear it's not lies."

"We found-" Kel started but Wyldon held up a hand.

"The men have told me; Domitan and Francis have brought me sufficiently up to speed. If I had felt the need to hear your report I would have been waiting in your tent for you to regain consciousness. They have it well in hand."

Kel blushed; despite what seemed like Wyldon's version of teasing on first sight of her, she thought he had just perhaps admitted to his belief in her competence. Perhaps she did need to rest longer...

"What did you see yourself then Sir Wyldon?"

Dom swiped a hand through his hair and down his face, shifting nervously on his hard wooden seat making it easy to read his discomfort at the news.

"In my section I found a dying creature. The strangest thing I have ever in all my career laid eyes on."

"What was it like?"

"Silver in colour, taller than most men but a hazy blob; its shape was hard to make out and focus on, like even the thing itself wasn't sure. You would have thought it an Immortal yet it was clearly dying – bleeding to death."

"It had silver blood too?" Kel asked, sighing. She hated when the dots across the battle field started to form a line.

"Yes, although I could have sworn that when it lay dead and we went closer, it's blood was changing colour; like it was as undecided as the creature's form. We collected samples and left it there – it was too strange I dared not risk trying to move it with so little men."

"What injured it?" The question came from Francis' direction this time.

"I don't know. When we found it stumbling through a clearing, it was already dying. We stumbled across it because of the trail it was leaving; otherwise I doubt we would have seen it. It left no tracks, no mark on the landscape of any kind of its passing – not like any man would. It managed to cause some damage before it left the earth though."

"What did it do?" Kel demanded, impatient to have all the information; to be able to sit and straighten everything out in her mind, to see the eventual outcome. She jiggled her leg impatiently as Wyldon took a flask from his hip and took a drag of its contents.

Clearing his throat he continued, gesturing a soldier over to refill the container.

"It took one of my men down who got too close: he was a forward scout for our party and found it long before we did. It left him though once he was on the floor, probably delirious from blood loss if its anything like us. We found the pair just as it swiped him. Out of itself – out of its own hazy shape – it seemed to shape a strange blade-like edge, which it drew across his back as he fled back to us. He's alive but barely."

"Wyldon's man isn't the only soldier to be injured in the sweeps Kel. And every other Knight who took a squad has found something to report, in this massive expanse of land." Francis looked down into Keladry's eyes as he spoke, turning his head slowly.

"You catch her up Sir Francis; I've been riding for most of the day and all of last night gathering the troops in."

The soldier had returned with the water flask and Sir Wyldon took another long drink. When it was offered to him, Domitan shook his head silently and watched the pair of Knights through the flames.

Speaking low Francis leaned towards Kel and she felt less aware of everything else in their surroundings by his proximity.

"The other Knights saw blobs of shadows as black as darkness moving, travelling through the streams – above ground and under it. They found tracks of old, cold blood but mixed with silver liquid that changed colour when they looked at it. They followed caravans dragging more prisoners to the East: over the Tyran border. Men were woken by the sounds of screams and yet when they went to investigate found only silver pools by their tents and cuts on their arms, without any memory of how they got there. One man even woke up beside a campfire covered in cuts and scratches when he swears to the Gods that he went to sleep in his bedroll. He remembers nothing too."

Kel looked at Wyldon across from her and saw the same lines of weariness and stress on his forehead that she had noted faintly on Sir Francis' face. Did they come with age, like silver hair? Or was it instead, with experience? When a man saw things that shook his core and his faith. Things that made him doubt his love for his country and his home. Things that made him so frightened of the rising sun and of passing time.

"Is it wise to leave the caravan we have alone? Shouldn't we carry on following it? After all it could lead us to the main stronghold." As soon as she began her questions, Lord Wyldon started to shake his head.

"On any normal day I would not let you lead their side – there are men of Tortall captive under them. But we already know the location of the stronghold."

While the men continued the discussion, trying to evaluate what the scouting groups had seen of the strange captive twins, the Lady Knight was lost to their words.

As they were putting together their news in a report to verbally deliver to Lord Raoul when they met up with him – arguing over the relative importance of each nugget of information and the order they should be relayed – within her mind Kel was arguing with herself.

Ideas and theories on what the Commander's plan was, his next move, raced around her mind. The man she knew and had studied under, had come to love would be focused on removing the loyal men who served the realm first and then fighting whatever foe had surfaced second. But surely he could not be considering storming a stronghold such as this one, in an unknown location, on such strange terrain?

She doubted whether the part of Raoul's mind that made him such a loyal servant to the King, would have the same priorities. In her heart, she knew that she shouldn't either and a part of her ached at the thought.

* * *

The sun was beginning to scale the branches of the trees, to sit on its lowest perch and regard the four around the banked fire when Keladry's wounds began to ache.

The leaders had remained at there and made plans on when and how to remove so many men from proximity to the large slaver caravan. Their soldiers had spent the afternoon preparing; eating the fresh rations brought by the back-up, sharpening weapons and resting. Food had been passed to their superior officers but no man had sought to know what was occurring: they all knew by the looks on the faces of the Knights and the Captain that times were growing serious. It was like all the darkness of the world had come together all at once to fill the clearing they occupied; the men felt the torches of light they held as men of Tortall flicker with a glance at the leaders' faces.

Though she was loath to admit it, the Lady Knight knew she needed sleep to recuperate before they broke camp at dawn the next day. Despite this she was not going to leave before the conversations were over and the men went to bed also. Not with Wyldon of Cavall sat at her campfire.

She had rejoined the conversation more or less over the time that had passed, sinking into her thoughts more and more as each plan was discussed to consider it privately. Francis had noted from where he sat by her side the way his Kelhen seemed to be fading slowly from the conversation; the way she appeared to be drooping both in appearance and personality.

In a break in conversation each of the leaders was lost in their own thoughts.

Even Sir Wyldon was musing lightly over what was occurring amongst the squad officers before him; Captain Domitan had scowled all afternoon and every time he looked at Sir Francis he was glancing in the Lady Knight's direction. With plans settled for the next day, he gave himself a moments respite to consider with some amusement how it was the males before him causing the awkwardness rather than the Lady Knight.

Domitan was gloomily musing on the events of the past day; reliving the moment he had found Keladry. He was thinking back on how he had felt, feeling darkness towards Sir Francis despite his wishes to be civil and professional.

When shouting crescendo-ed in the camp, all three Knights and the Captain rose almost in union to see a sentry break through the trees at a run.

"Slavers! Heading our way!"

Kel took a deep breath to try and dispel the pain and sickness she was feeling. She had known the enemy would strike whilst she was at her weakest. As the watchmen from either side of the first took up his cries and arrived in the clearing, Kel sent practiced and well-used glances at her squad of men. The orders in her eyes were passed from them to other men and women while Francis and Wyldon also started to bark orders.

By the time the first sentry made it to the side of Sir Wyldon, soldiers were rushing left and right in a flurry of movement.

"The leaders of the caravan are advancing, leading a band of armed men. Some of them look like the prisoners we've been following but I had no idea they had changed their minds on resisting – they've all just gone silent..."

In a hive of activity Kel jogged to the sides of her men to ensure that they were armed. She lost track of the other commanders – of Francis and Domitan – as time seemed to speed up. Though they had a few moments warning of the ambush, of the fact that they were about to be surrounded, it seemed like Keladry only had time to blink and men were appearing like fog through the trees.

Pushing through the last bushes surrounding the camp on all sides, Kel could make out some of the faces she had followed for the past several days and many she had not. As they broke into a run trampling tents and anything lying in their way, Kel evaluated the odds in her head.

All the men of Tortall – from the original squads and of the back up – had created a loose ring around the central campfire where the commanders had been seated. Though the others had been left alight to cause the slavers problems, every soldier of the realm knew that in an ambush fight to push outwards, like a beating heart and die before you'd allow the enemy inside the ring.

Even without their united foolproof tactics Kel was certain that the slavers would stand no chance of defeating their trackers.

With that thought shining brightly in her mind sustained by grim determination, the Lady Knight stepped forward to engage the tide that had risen before her. The slavers all wore brown clothing which stood in a shaded contrast to the camouflage and uniforms of Tortall.

The man in front of her reminded her of the formal introductions she had suffered in court the way he stood, yet instead of courteously bowing the slaver swung a beastly looking sword down in a right-arc aimed at her shoulder.

Keladry blocked the blow and forced both blades away from her lithe frame, stepping into the space created – closer to the shell of a human before her.

Kel observed how deftly the man spun the sword in his hand so that its deadly tip was facing downwards but was not panicked. Her body acted almost on automatic in situations like this; she had been fighting for so long that there was not many moves she did not know how to counter. Yet in order to ensure everything was landed correctly her concentration had to be complete. Time passed in heartbeats instead of seconds, racing away as the sweat trickled down her brow and still Kel watched each movement and attack gradually approach. She was the mistress of the fight, not time.

Stepping closer still Kel drew her blade back to her side and while the slaver was still plunging his weapon down in a deathblow, wounded him in the belly. His strike lost all force when pain blinded his senses and she whirled away to engage the next man.

On and on it went: man after man filled the space in front of her as Keladry performed an almost sacrificial circuit of the campfire. She danced from side to side ignoring unconsciously the pain in her chest – sucking it inwards to feed her concentration. Every other sense left her apart from sight: there was the dull roar of blood blocking her ears to any other noise and her breath came in short open-mouthed pants.

She managed in brief moments to catch glimpses of her men, of Wyldon and Domitan, of Francis. Each was quite rightly wrapped up in the ambush as was she: she had only registered their presence in her relentless combat.

Francis registered in her mind like a spark pushing back the dark blanket of savagery.

Remaining conscious for any approaching opponent the Lady Knight watched for a moment as the young Knight parried with his man swiftly; they were apart with room for the lightning movements of their weapons. His face was furrowed in concentration and seriousness.

Keladry felt a rush of reassurance and emotion return to her system watching him look after himself – as she should have known he could - before another slaver blocked her view and her sword.

Like rain slavers fell under the might of Tortall. The Lady Knight had lost count of how many men she had faced or the time, judging that they must have been fighting for a while from the pale sun and ache of her stitches.

As the short slaver she had been battling collapsed with a groan, Keladry felt stony arms grip her from behind. Reeling and cursing in her mind she tried to turn, pushing and digging into the vice-like grip. Suddenly, from nowhere the faceless slaver held a thin dagger in one of his hands about her waist. Kel could only watch as he manoeuvred it to where her arms were braced trying to pull him off, and drag the blade along one of them.

Blood instantly welled and ran lightly but she couldn't feel anything. Battle had taken all sense and reason and replaced them with bloodlust and battle. The sight of her first injury of the ambush fuelled Kel with the needed strength to pull the man off her back and bring them face to face. Shock froze her next to the fire with icy fear.

Before her was the man from the stream; complete with his two sparkling daggers – one now dripping in her blood.

Back from the grave, the soldier who had given her the wound now aching across her collarbone grinned at her swinging one dagger round in his palm to face downwards. Kel couldn't move, couldn't think or breathe. Were the slavers dealing in necromancy?

That thought rattled round her otherwise empty brain, hollow without the emotions which had been powering her for the last hour.

Kel scuttled backwards as the dead man advanced closer but he kept on coming. She couldn't even doubt he was real – she had felt his very human grip around her body moments earlier, had pressed her nails into his granite forearms.

Suddenly he was before her but he didn't strike. Knocking Griffin lightly to the floor the man forced her backwards by gripping her shirt in a fist. When something blocked her feet and Keladry fell, he followed her downwards.

Still unable to act, the Lady Knight could only watch as the slaver bathed his bloody knife further in her blood rather than harming her further. She could feel his knees pressing on either side of her hips and the blood pounding at her temple, certain that this was how she was going to die.

The dead man ripped the sleeve of her shirt clean off and quickly wrapped his knife in it. With his other dagger he traced Keladry's cheek, smiling cruelly down at her.

His face came closer and yet the Lady Knight didn't move – dimly she registered multiple ways of getting out of the situation she now found herself yet her limbs wouldn't respond. Close as he was Keladry could feel the dead slaver's breath wrapping around her like death itself. She steeled herself but couldn't close her eyes to what was coming.

With a lightning strike, the dead man hit Kel on the head with the end of his unsullied dagger knocking her flat on the damp ground. Her sight seemed to dampen too; becoming hazy and shifting but she could see well enough to see the slaver rise and call the other men back in a retreat without a backward glance. He and the other men, melted into the trees like the ghostly spirit he should have been.

Pain in her head, arm and chest returned gradually with her senses and Keladry remained still to take everything in; the other Tortallans were regrouping and assessing the damage.

Had she really just seen a dead man walking?


	24. Chapter TwentyThree: ReGroup

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Regroup**

Captain Domitan was the first person to reach her side after the ambush.

"You know, I'm getting tired of people making me bleed in this place."

Lady Kel's greeting made the previously grave looking man smile a little unwittingly. He took her hands and hauled her to her feet; the pair of them groaning from the various aches and pains they had gained over the last several days. After silently examining her cut to his apparent satisfaction, her old friend spoke.

"I think it's about time you started taking some back in kind, Kel - after all life is all about give and take."

Kel laughed darkly.

"And Mithros knows I do love giving so much more than receiving." Dom joined in her laughter but his eyes were dark as he looked at her, his cheerfulness a little strained. Kel tried to ignore this, but that tiny voice at the back of her mind forced her to acknowledge the complexity which her relationship with Captain Domitan had gained since they had started talking again. She still would not let it ruin her natural high that always came in the aftermath of a battle when they had survived and won.

Through the throbbing of the stitches on her chest, the cut on her arm and the lump forming on her head, Keladry could appreciate each full and deep lungful of fresh air she pulled into her battered body. Bloodlust had been replaced by a giddy exhilaration. With her pulse back to normal, the roaring in her ears had long since faded; allowing her to welcome the dusk sounds of the woods.

To her, battle was an out of body experience that she could only achieve fleetingly, trapped in a mortal form as she was. There was always a hyperawareness of the fragile form that encased the spirit attempting to break out, to rip and tear, to kill. It was this barrier, this awareness, that made her a moral human, she thought. She would not and could not become as animalistic outwardly as she sometimes wished – only killed when she absolutely had to, not when spirit dictated. Her will was in control and stopped her becoming absolutely lethal to everyone around her.

Reality seeped through her musings and Kel realised Domitan was waiting for her to speak again.

She looked up into his eyes, surprising him slightly by her seriousness after such joy.

"The man who cut me," she began with a sigh, "was the same man lying dead over there."

Kel gestured to her right; to the tent where the body of the dead Tyran from the stream had been put.

"Well good. At least you got him back," Dom replied misunderstanding. "But which one: there are several dead Tyrans..."

The floor in front of the tent, next to a small campfire held several felled men. Kel shook her head.

"It was the man in the tent Dom; the same man alive and fighting, as you found dead beside me this morning."

The captain's mouth dropped open in confusion, doubt and perhaps a little fear.

He stood in front of her silent for several minutes, scrutinising her face, completely motionless.

Kel gave him time to think and take in that bombshell; Gods she still hadn't gotten her head around it.

"Everyone's present and correct; mostly ok although most have these damned cuts in at least one place... are you two ok?"

Sir Francis appeared from behind Kel, seeming to notice the tension written across the Captain's face. When he reached Keladry's side he turned her to face him, with a firm hand around her arm.

A weak smile from his Kelhen reassured him enough to release his grip on her and to move his hand to rest lightly on her shoulder. Here it gently massaged the tense muscles around the joint unconsciously, giving them both the relief of touch.

"Did you get cut?" Kel asked looking up into the Knight's face and feeling a knot inside her release, knowing he had survived the fight.

"Yes and in a damn awkward place too." He turned and showed Kel the already dried cut which ran the length of the back of his neck in a slanted fashion. "Irritating as anything I can tell you but should be a pretty impressive battle scar when it's healed. One to show to the girls don't you think?"

As he turned back, he winked at Kel making her blush slightly. The Lady Knight felt the heat rise up her neck and with a grim look of determination attempted to control the chagrin from crossing her cheeks.

"Did you?" Francis looked between the pair of commanders before him. Dom shook his head as Keladry sighed slightly. Francis' forehead creased in concern and he held out his hands in a wordless plea to inspect the wound.

"I'm fine really," Kel said a little indignantly but let him look at the cut on her arm all the same.

Mirroring Dom's movements moments earlier Sir Francis checked the cut was clear and scabbing as it should. Again, the similarities between the two men struck the Lady Knight right in the chest, making it harder to breathe.

"You really must stop getting hurt like this Kelhen – anyone else would think you were losing your touch..."

Francis' mocking died in his throat replaced by a bark of surprise. In one of her best lightning moves Keladry twisted the arm the Knight still held in his grasp whilst simultaneously grabbing one of his own with both her hands. Before Francis could register what was happening, Kel swung him from where he was stood beside her to the floor. She used all her strength and determination in the move, ignoring the irritations of her injuries, to make him eat his words. However, she could not stop herself following the momentum to end up above him, pinning him down.

Staring down at Francis' shocked expression, Kel grinned widely with the laughter of the surrounding men in her ears.

"Care to retract that?"

Francis raised an eyebrow. His eyes, sparkling dangerously, slowly took in her position over him running her entire length. A lump rose in Lady Kel's throat as his gaze advanced and her cheeks heated. No-one had ever managed to affect her so easily with so little effort; but more than half of her mind – the less sane part – never wanted him to lose that skill.

It was so relaxing, not having to worry about keeping people out at arm's length.

Clearing his throat, the Knight pinned below her replied, "not if it gets me into situations like this..."

Numbly Kel was aware of Dom growling roughly and stepping forward, but her mind was still reeling. Didn't they have enough to deal with?

Sir Wyldon of Cavall cleared his throat loudly and the group of men that were loitering around their commanders dispersed instantly.

With only a raised eyebrow he held out a hand and pulled the Lady Knight to her feet. As she regained her balance however, he turned a dark look on the other Knight and on Domitan: the kind of look that promised stern words to come.

"How are your men Sir?" Keladry asked dusting herself off.

"All fine – a few cuts only. It seems that somehow the slavers learnt of their trackers after all; perhaps they saw signs of your fight this morning Lady Knight?"

"So it must be," Kel replied reluctantly. "That's the only thing that's happened in the last few days which could have given us away."

"It's hard to believe they got all that from a site of skirmish by the river. Broken twigs and footprints can be gods' know how old." Domitan remarked shaking his head.

"Be that as it may, I'm sorry for jeopardising such an important mission Sir."

Kel's guilt rose up again in her chest from where it had lain dormant since that morning. She could have gotten them all killed, if only she'd been more careful...

"Hush, there must have been something else to tip them off." As he spoke, Francis patted her arm again, seeming to have relaxed about being less than professional towards her around others. Kel looked from one man to another, mind returning once again to those final moments of the ambush.

"Maybe it was," she said slowly. "I swear to every single God of the realm that the man who wounded me before the retreat was the same man Captain Domitan found dead by the stream."

Sir Wyldon took the news better than Dom had.

Francis merely scowled.

"Stranger things than necromancy have occurred in this lawless, gods-forsaken void."

Wyldon didn't show any signs of confusion or surprised as he spoke; the only signs of her words was the deepening of the furrows on his forehead. The men must truly have reported some weird things, Kel noted.

"We should perhaps check on our guest..."

Without another word Wyldon turned and strode towards the tent holding the dead Tyran. His expectations of being followed were completely obvious, and completed at a light jog by the knights and the Own's captain.

In moments the four leaders stood over a very dead, very real Tyran slaver. No-one spoke as the senior knight scrupulously re-examined the corpse for any signs of trickery or magic which knights of the realm were trained for, but this was far beyond any of them.

As Kel mapped every feature of the man before her, she became certain that this man had also fought in the ambush. She relayed all this to Wyldon who was crouching beside the body.

"I have no doubt about that now Lady Knight – look."

Wyldon gestured to where a liquid was dripping from the body's gurney to the floor below. The two men and Kel all bent to take a closer look, while Sir Wyldon moved back out of the way sighing. The liquid seemed of a silver colour but it was hard to determine or focus upon.

"Just the same as everywhere else," Wyldon said in a resigned tone. "I suggest you all instruct your men to rest and be ready to move out at dawn; we need to report all that's happened. It's imperative that we reach Lord Raoul by mid-afternoon at the latest."

* * *

They managed it by midday.

The re-assembled group had crossed another border - into Tyra - and set up an established and intricate camp site.

The first sign Lady Keladry had that they had passed out of the No Man's Land was the change in terrain. The area became more swamp and less wooded gradually, slowing their progress. Their group became strung out in lines as they passed from one area of hard ground to another, snaking through the landscape. There were trees still, on these pockets of solid earth, but these were in short supply. The damp, flooded and muddy swamped grounds that Tyra was renowned for became the dominant feature they passed.

Used to the lush greenery of the unclaimed land they had been travelling, Kel noticed how dull this new land was. Aside from the trees, the plant life consisted of dark shrubbery close to the ground revealing the sky to the soldiers and knights again. The sight was not one of cerulean crystalline beauty as they would have hoped for, but of dark foreboding clouds. With no cover, the wind cut through the flat land like a piercing spear, leaving its mark on every face.

"How can the Tyran people not know what is happening in their own country?" Kel asked in a sigh as another gust of wind threatened to blow her off her horse. "On this flat, open, swampy plain, surely a mass of slavers and prisoners would not be exactly conspicuous."

Although her rant had been mostly to herself, Francis who was riding not far behind her, heard.

"All the Tyran cities and people are out in the east – away from the swamps. This area is the perfect place to attempt hiding a group of people on this scale. If you think about it, it's really quite clever..."

"In an evil kind of way," Kel interrupted him with a sharp look back from her seat.

"If you let me finish," Francis continued. "In a despicably evil and twisted kind of logic."

Kel huffed and muttered under her breath rather than reply. She wasn't in the mood to be cheered by Francis' gentle cajoling. She was in a dark foul temper brought on by the weather, the situation and the sense of dread building in her gut.

At midday the lines of men and their leaders rode through one particularly large wooded area and were greeted by the sight of Lord Raoul's camp filling their gazes.

Situated on another particularly large wooded area the camp evidently had been there a couple of days at least. The tents amongst the trees had been properly put up rather than in the haste of a tired soldier; they were pegged and had lines running through the trees to keep them secure. Some wooden defences had been created on the east side of the camp out of logs. Felled trees had been sharpened to points and stuck in the ground next to the largest tent of them all serving as the communal tent and council area.

As Keladry rode slowly into the camp with her men she noted other differences between this camp and the one which had been situated on the Tortallan side of the border. The absence of Men-At-Arms in this Royal camp was the most noticeably; in her past experience Kel had always seen at least a couple of Men-At-Arms in camps on business for the King. They were there to act as scribes and messengers as well as smiths to ensure that the men and their camp functioned effectively. Here there was none: only men of the Own and Riders as well as the knights. Everyone in the camp, Kel noted, had full and complete military training as well as experience.

The camp portrayed this; organisation had been done in the most primal of forms. There were areas for each type of soldier to set up his tent but aside from this there was no structure within these groups, which Men-At-Arms would have insisted upon in order to ascertain rank and file amongst the tents. Here, every man and woman was as valued as the next.

The fact that the ceremony seemed to have been stripped away from this Royal business, at least on appearances, filled Kel with a sense that there was a plan in action and the military aspect, rather than that of diplomacy even in this foreign country, was in control.

Upon reaching the epicentre of the camp which rose up like a maze around them, Sir Wyldon signalled for Captain Domitan to set off with him to find the Lord Commander of the Own and for Sir Francis and Keladry to organise the men. His commands were silent; held by the set of his face and hand signals. Even he was in no mood for conversation.

Dismounting Francis gathered their troops around them and began instructing the force.

"Find your area and set up your tents like the others. Prepare for a prolonged stay so unpack and perform what small tasks need to be done; washing, weaponry maintenance – anything to keep busy until the Lord Commander is ready to address and debrief us."

With nods and smiles their men and women moved off without argument or complaint, following Francis to find their particular sections. They were all eager to get warm and dry after the blustering ride of the morning.

Kel's little band of the Own that she had led in the sweeps shared a few words with her before disembarking on their tasks. Durg and Jowal, like Dom and Francis, chided Kel for getting cut in the ambush. This was their first instance of being regrouped again – on the journey out Kel had asked them to act as the scouting party surrounding the main band to warn of danger. She trusted their instincts enough to know they would keep them safe as they travelled.

The Lady Knight's mood was considerably lightened by the time her men left to set up their tents. They had made her promise to eat with them that evening at their Own's campfire as they had seen little of her in the last couple of days outside of her role as leader. Durg in his fatherly way warmed her heart and spirit in such dark times with his particular care and protectiveness. It was nice to be looked after, just a little.

"Lady Knight?"

A light female voice broke through Kel's musings. She looked up and took in the small Rider stood before her with a pensive expression. "Yes?"

"Me and a couple of the other Riders would like to talk to you, if we may."

The woman was unknown to Kel and so her request of conversation intrigued her. The Rider was small but seemed like a bottled spark about to erupt – she was always moving. Kel knew she would be deadly in any fight and was glad they were on the same side. She nodded and followed in silence to the female section of the camp where she supposed she would be asked to set her tent later.

"I'm sorry for distracting you from settling down my lady," the woman spoke but Kel smiled and shook her head.

"Kel please. What is your name?"

"Janelle, I'm a Rider in the Third Group." Janelle introduced the three other women stood next to them, all in the Riders' uniform. "We've noticed something strange on our way from the ambush and thought that you and the other commanders should be made aware of it."

Kel instantly warmed to the woman for her straight to the point attitude; it was nice to talk to someone who remembered that business came first for a change.

"Only the male soldiers have received particular wounds from the ambush, none of us."

"What do you mean?"

"Some of us have scrapes and bruises from the fight but were never struck or cut by our opponents. None of us have those deliberate, none threatening cuts like the men. All our injuries were the result of being disabled and pushed to the ground or by accident."

"I have a cut..." Kel said slowly.

"Apart from you." Janelle nodded grimly. The other silent Riders nodded along with her, and all the women watched Kel for a reaction.

Keladry was careful to keep her face a blank mask which would not panic or frighten the women in any way. Before she reacted to this news, she needed to consider it. And, report it to Lord Raoul.

Thanking them, Kel moved away and began to walk slowly back to where she had left Streak with Francis' horse. He needed a good seeing to while it could be done and there she would be able to think. She knew she had been less than polite to the women, but she was tired and things were buzzing around her head like excited bees.

In the clearing where their group had begun disbanding, she found her horse. It was unusually quiet for the centre of such a large military camp, but Kel put that down to the news they had brought with them and the situation. The men would know how serious things were getting and would be in their tents doing menial tasks in mental preparation. She wished she could do that, but her days as a simple fighter had been replaced long ago by the life and duties of a leader, which was natural to her.

She relished the quiet and solitude.

Her mask fell away as she allowed herself to consider each thought in her head. Every so often she would mutter quietly to herself or croon to her horse as she tried to find his brush in her pack.

"They've set up a crude stabling for the horses, we should take them there."

The voice made her jump and seemed to echo in the empty clearing Kel had been enjoying.

Francis was stood a little distance away watching her reaching into her pack atop her horse, with a small smile on his face. "The men have already taken theirs there, and cared for them. You could still have your silence to mutter and moan."

"But you would still be there," Kel responded sharper than she intended, but followed Sir Francis as he led his horse away, laughing at her biting remark.

He remained thankfully silent until they had tethered their horses with a group of others and set about giving them as much of a brush and rub down as was possible in the middle of a swamp. Kel had turned once again to her thoughts and was deeply preoccupied when he spoke. At first it took her a while to comprehend what he was talking about.

"You know I've heard that sharing is much healthier than keeping things to yourself, plus you can bounce your ideas of me rather than the horse..."

"But the horse is much more silent than you could ever be." Keladry replied eventually.

"Ouch, I'm hurt! Here I am offering my services to you-"

"No," Kel interrupted him with a sharp look. "You're being nosy and want to know what's got me so contemplative."

Francis smiled unrepentantly.

"Perhaps. But I'm still offering my services as a listener aren't I? Whatever my motives."

His words made the Lady Knight smiled unwittingly a little. She turned from where she was facing Streak, mentally deciding to cut the other knight a little slack. When he saw her small smile Francis returned it and his shoulders relaxed a little.

"I thought you were going to give me a complete tongue lashing then," he said darting glances at her while he brushed down his horse's flank.

"No I decided against it."

"And why's that?" Francis replied with a lighted brow.

"I think you've probably had enough of a lashing from Sir Wyldon..." Francis groaned at Kel's words making her chuckle darkly.

"You do not know the half of it!"

"I can imagine," Kel replied but her smile died as she continued with a sigh. "Francis you need to remain professional around me at all times. Your behaviour yesterday was too, too... intimate and I think that if you can't manage it we should stay away from each other."

Francis stopped what he was doing and looked up sharply.

"Do you want me to stop?"

He put his brush down and came around the back of his horse to stand in the space she occupied between the beasts. He leant against his steed and crossed his arms with a serious look.

"No but-"

"Have I ever degraded you or made you look a fool because of my intimacy?"

"No but-"

"And have I ever made your sex or rank an issue in front of the men?"

"No." Kel sighed; he had misunderstood and now he was getting angry.

"Then what harm is a little intimacy? You allow it with Durg – he's fatherly towards you – and you allow it from the other men. Why not me?"

"Because..." she started, her cheeks flushing. "Because I think it comes from a different place with you. One that's not professionally appropriate."

"I should certainly hope it comes from a different place! I care for you Kelhen, why should I not show my care and concern for you just because there are others around? And I'm proud of myself that I've been as reserved as I have to be perfectly honest: only under very stressful circumstances have I treated you differently to any of my other men! I should have known you expected perfection..."

As Francis continued, getting louder and louder, Kel ducked her head.

She'd realised he had every right to get upset, what she had said had been stupid and illogical. She should have been grateful of Sir Francis' care and concern but instead she had got frightened by it like a nervous horse. All of this was so new to her...

The Lady Knight noticed that Francis had stopped talking.

Looking up, she took in his face as he watched her. The anger and darkness had gone from his face entirely but the blankness was not complete when he took in her look of uncertainty and upset.

"Sorry that was uncalled for-"

"No," Kel interrupted raising her hands to silence him. "I understand."

She looked down again as an awkward silence reigned the space between them, emotions swirling within her chest. She didn't know what to say, she couldn't even trust her own thoughts and feelings anymore. She felt so hopeless.

Suddenly she felt a warm hand beneath her chin, lifting her head.

Francis' piercing eyes and familiar face filled her gaze, scrutinising her face as she did his.

"It's so nice to get quiet time together isn't it..." Francis spoke slowly, his dry comment making Kel laugh sarcastically. After a moment of laughing together Kel sighed.

Francis drew her closer to him.

His hand left her chin and travelled across her neck to knot itself within the hair at the base of her head. His other arm banded around her waist pulling her body tight next to his in a firm embrace.

Kel felt his lips on her head and forehead; placing small light kisses across her skin that gave her electric shocks.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly tucking her head into his shoulders and curling her hands on his chest.

Francis shushed her and simply held her close. Kel revelled in his firmness and warmth making her relax. She hoped her presence did the same for him as they stood in the makeshift stable after several long stressful days and embraced.

With a small pressure Francis guided her head up to look up at him again. When Kel's eyes met his, he smiled a little.

"Don't worry about a thing ok?" he said firmly, searching her face for any remaining awkwardness. When she nodded his smile grew and he brought their heads together, kissing her deeply in way of silent apology.


	25. Chapter TwentyFour: CatchUp

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Catch Up**

Later that afternoon, surrounded by the other knights of the mission Lady Keladry and Sir Francis were brought up to speed on all that had been reported by Lord Raoul himself. When necessary soldiers of every kind gave vivid accounts of the things they had witnessed. Sir Wyldon and Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle stood to one side; the knight was listening to a report from his squire of all that he had missed whilst he had been away, and the captain was watching the Lady Knight's facial expression as she took in what she heard.

He could see the very edges of the mask she was fighting to retain at the news but could also pick up on the very faint traces of horror, disgust, fear and confusion that drifted through her features. To many other people these emotions would not have been detectable in that moment. However Dom knew Kel too well for her to hide most things from him.

Kel bit back the bile she felt rising from her stomach at the account given by the young Rider leaving the tent. Debriefing had been going on for the past hour and still showed no signs of being over. She wasn't sure just how much more disturbing information she could take.

"Now," Lord Raoul continued with a sigh. "The enemy has a camp about fifteen miles to the east of here, completely within Tyran territory rather than hugging the borderlands like here. It's cleverly situated in the centre of a complex set of deadly swamps; if you didn't know it was there you would not find it. Most maps warn to stay well clear of that area so I imagine very few travellers have ever stumbled across the thousand or so men that are encamped there."

"There's really that many already?" Francis asked rubbing his forehead. Lady Kel noted just how tired he had come to look over the past hour, how weary.

"Most certainly. Judging on the numbers of prisoners and slavers we have seen enter its outskirts, that is a modest estimate. I hope it's correct but personally, I feel in that rat warren we will find more than a few on top of that."

"Have you seen many people, prisoner or slaver, leaving?" Keladry asked quietly.

"Every sweeping party I sent out has recorded at least one slaver caravan passing through their land and all of these have been seen entering the camp. No one has, as yet, left again."

Raoul paused for a moment to allow them to consider these details in connection with everything else they had heard.

It was slowly, to both Francis and Keladry, becoming clear that Raoul had every intention of direct action as opposed to waiting for the enemy to come to them. Kel thoroughly approved. To her it had already gone on long enough and she was sick and tired of this murky land; most importantly the slavers had proven to be too cruel and callous to allow them to complete whatever it was they were planning.

"Surely the enemy had spotted this camp by now then, my Lord. I mean there are not just a couple of us either..." Francis remarked making Kel glance around the council tent to count how many were present.

As she took in the whole room, a jolt of happiness shot through her upon seeing the faces of Iiyan of Mountain's End and Turnall of Seer's Bridge – her two other boys – both who smiled when they caught her eye. The warmth of happiness grew within her chest at the smiling greetings she received also from her brothers and her old school friends. Amongst all this despair and evil, it lightened her heart just a little to see them present also.

Raoul laughed without very much humour, bringing Kel back to the present.

"The enemy has every awareness of our presence my old squire, but they have yet to do anything about it. It seems to me they are waiting for something although we have yet to learn what; I gravely fear we shall not until it is too late. We have also yet to see the man the slavers call The Commander; The General's boss man likes to keep in the shadows it appears."

"What kind of watch structure are you using My Lord?" Kel inquired.

"We are trying our best to maintain a continuous watch on the camp but it is imperative that single watchers are not discovered – I fear if they were we would incur casualties. At the moment, at each changing of the guard a new look out point is found and established."

"Just tell us when you wish our men and ourselves to partake in this watch," Francis bowed his head to his old master, and Kel followed suit.

"Not for a day or two knights; get your men revived as well as yourselves. I'm going to need you in the coming days. Speaking of, go and talk to your men then get some rest. I'll talk with you again later."

Raoul dismissed them and Domitan with a wave of his hand and a tight smile then summoned Wyldon to his side.

As the three left the tent, most of the other knights were getting up and preparing to attend to their duties.

Iiyan and Turnall however made a bee-line for Francis and Kel. Wordlessly she accepted their strong embraces, listening to their enquiries after their travels since they had seen the pair days ago. Francis clasped one of her shoulders with a warm hand, drawing her deeper into the conversation.

"It's been a long couple of days but we're all in one piece are we not Kelhen?" He smiled warmly down at her, his eyes light and relaxed in the company of the men he had been travelling with for so long.

Kel simply smiled, allowing the boys to talk as she continued to mull over Raoul's news and information. With every passing minute it was getting closer to the time when this long and strange mission came to a climax; all Kel knew was that she had to be ready.

Looking up suddenly the Lady Knight became aware that all three of her boys were watching her scowl subconsciously, with a smile on their face. Turnall's was bright and a little mocking whilst Francis' was tinged with concern. Iiyan on the other hand was watching her with a burning intensity that reminded her of moments before the mission had begun, what seemed like lifetimes ago. His eyes held emotion that sent her straight back to leaning on that stable door, when he had shown so much care and affection for her son and the relationship she had with him.

Somehow Kel registered over the time since she had seen him, Iiyan seemed to have matured. His eyes were crinkled from squinting through this half light, but his skin was also tanned from the light that escaped the canopy. Looking back at that moment of blistering heat in the barn she realised with a shock that the feelings she had experienced had come from his openness with her; before that time she had never experienced it before. He had stared straight into her eyes, demanding to see and to know what was hidden there. It was the same kind of look that Francis gave her. It seemed novel and exciting to be able to look into the eyes of another adult without shame or embarrassment. Iiyan was just a boy really, but perhaps from his time with Francis he had adopted this direct brave look. To some girl soon he would direct that gaze and her reaction would be akin to Kel's whenever the elder of her boys gazed in her direction.

The Lady Knight smiled at Iiyan warmly and gave his arm a brief squeeze.

"Everyone's present and correct - just exhausted. We've sent them to sleep and although Raoul says to do the same, I don't know how I can rest after all I have just heard."

Turnall nodded.

"It is rather a lot to take in, but I feel slightly better now we've been handed more information than we had several days ago. I least I'm not going in there completely blind."

"But not entirely full sighted either," Iiyan added with a sigh. "Who knows what else those savages are plotting."

"Magic for certain," Francis replied.

"All we can do is be ready," Kel said voicing her thoughts. Her boys nodded. From nearby, a group of soldiers called to Turnall. With a look at them quickly he turned back to the group with a slightly sheepish look.

"My men from the sweeps asked if I would persuade you to lead them in a hand to hand exercise. They're rather in awe at your reputation and I think it would do them some good to see the legendary Protector of the Small in action..."

Kel sighed. She had just said that she would not be able to sleep for a while despite their commanders' orders. What was the harm, in giving the men some pointers that very well might save their lives?

"As long as none of them, or you," Kel replied with a pointed look. "Calls me that damned name!"

"I'll tell them to find a big enough clearing shall I?" Turnall smiled gratefully at her. Francis gave a short laugh.

"You really should just accept your title. Or would you rather the whole camp call you Kelhen?"

"Only we can call her Kelhen here," Iiyan said quietly. With a final look at Kel's calm countenance and a small nod, he turned and walked away. The Lady Knight knew that he had understood full well from her expression that whatever had occurred back in Corus across a barn door would never occur again.

Alone again, Keladry took a long look into Francis' eyes searching for signs of fatigue or worry.

"It seems you too are not ready for rest either," she ventured, hoping to be reassured by his feelings on the situation.

"No. My men are in their tents but before I can enter my own I think I need to hear more from the other Knights of what is building up around us."

"I find the waiting the worst part of every mission..." Kel sighed. Again it felt good to let down her guard around someone, to be able to completely honest and open for a change, without wearing a mask.

"You need to keep calm for now Kelhen," Francis smiled a little. "The slavers are not going anywhere. There's a complex set-up in their camp surrounded by swamps and I do not think they will give that up easily. It's too convenient for mischief."

"I know that in my head, but the rest of me..."

"Wants to be up and fighting evil doesn't it?" Francis finished her sentence for her with a smile as she stopped uncertainly. "You see, it's not so hard to open up about your feelings is it?"

Kel smiled.

"Relax. Recuperate. Reassess the situation tomorrow on a full night's unbroken sleep and a full stomach. This mission is just like any other..."

As he spoke, the knight massaged Keladry's shoulders gently. His touch was welcome and soothing even through her layers of clothing. Kel's muscles relaxed without her agreement. His way of disarming and affecting her was one that Kel would always associate with Francis of Dorbe.

Before he left her side, Francis kissed the Lady Knight lightly on the forehead with a wistful smile playing about his lips. It was a smile Kel could feel being branded upon her skin even by the smallest, quickest of pressures from his lips. Part of her was thankful – so tied up in the mission and the evil occurring so very close to her, she did not think she could devote any more time than she already did considering what was flowering between the two of them.

Another part of her however howled in frustration.

With every advance she made in Francis' direction and with every leap he made towards her, Kel's insides seemed to demand more. More touching, closer proximity, a deeper kiss, a longer look. Her head could not explain it.

The Lady Knight was undecided as to whether she wanted any of her other senses to be able to explain this attraction for her.

* * *

When the watch rode in unexpectedly later in the evening, Kel was sat amongst her group of Own's men eating dinner.

The drills and exercises she had led the men in had gone well, however the group which had appealed to Turnall had grown by the time she arrived.

For a couple of hours she demonstrated and instructed the men in the deadly arts she had picked up not only from her time with the Yamani's but also from her other travels under the crown. Wherever she had ventured whether on a mission or not, the Lady Knight had made certain that she benefitted from the trip; picking up some forms and moves from the local defence training as she travelled the lands. By the end of the session even a few of the knights had been watching and participating as she led the group in a particularly lethal Yamani throwing technique which often led your attacker winded with a few broken ribs for his attempt.

As the ninth hour was called the men who had been observing the surroundings of the enemy camp appeared, their horses going at a full gallop.

News of their arrival travelled fast through the resting men around the surrounding campfires, all of whom stood and made their way to the central area to see what news the men were delivering to their leader. The crowds of men jostled and hurried to hear what would be reported akin to any crowd that could be found at a festival in Corus competing for the best view on a spectacle.

Kel dodged and weaved the groups of soldiers, eventually making her way to stand next to the council tent opening where several others knights had gathered.

The men, still on horseback, looked terrified. That was the first thing that struck the Lady Knight; the fear in their eyes was frightening in itself. Whatever they had seen had shaken these seasoned warriors to their very cores.

Lord Raoul stood before the group calming them and ensuring that they had not been followed back to the base. A loaded silence fell around the central campfire as the men accounted slowly under the commander's questioning, what they had seen.

They had been trying to get as close as possible, Kel heard from the knight beside her, to see what was occurring and establish a look out post.

"What was it that caught your attention?" Raoul asked in a low tone. One man at the front on a dun horse made up the point of the group and seemed to have been elected to report.

"A caravan rolling past but unlike all the others any of us had seen it was very small – only two slavers and a very few number of prisoners. They were rolling around the outskirts of the camp it seemed and the two slavers were arguing loudly."

"Could you hear what they were talking about?"

"Not really but it seemed like there had been some sort of meeting and one of them had angered the Commander. I heard mention that they were being punishment but other than that it was too faint to make out."

"What was it that made you all come back?" Raoul looked around the group a moment. "Every man I sent out is with you."

"We were unsure whether they saw us, so thought it best to withdraw and inform you of the strange happenings we had seen. We thought you might need to see for yourself so some of us could act as guides while the rest of us give more detail. Should we go in the council tent my Lord?"

Lord Raoul looked around at the crowds surrounding the clearing. It seemed every man on this mission was witnessing the conversation yet he did not seem fazed. When it seemed like he had looked every man present reassuringly in the eye, the Crown's commander spoke.

"No, let the men hear what we are going to defeat in the name of Tortall."

"Sir I have never seen anything like it. In all my years under you and in the name of the King, I have never seen such magic or illusions as the one we have just witnessed."

"Are you sure it was not just a trick of the light sir?" Raoul asked gently. He knew as well as any other man that the men of the Own did not handle criticism in their work well.

"Absolutely not my Lord; they are not the kind of happenings which could have been produced by a trick of the light. I swear by the Gods."

"Very well soldier, tell us what occurred."

It seemed like the whole clearing, along with Keladry, took a deep breath in anticipation.

"The slavers began whipping the seven captives they had with them for some crime or another. Not all together strange I know, but when the captives resisted and did not become subdued by this treatment one of the slavers staked the chain of men to a tree and sent the other back to the main camp on the horse they had had with them which had been pulling the captives."

"What happened when he returned?"

"He returned with a pair of men who seemed identical; twins in every feature and detail – too identical for it to be a occurrence of their mother's womb. I swear it was the same human twice. The whole time they were silent and still, ordered about by the slavers without speaking a word. The slaver returned with the two identicals and another man riding the horse – a man in the uniform of the Own – who carried a pack."

"Was he chained? Did he fight?"

"No."

There was mutterings from around the clearing at this: every man employed within the Own who was bearing witness cursing another of their own captive and swearing how _they_ would have been fighting.

"One of the slavers ordered these three silent, still men to dismount the horse and gestured them over to him," the watchman continued. "He took a jar holding a blackened substance from the pack and withdrew the knife from his belt."

Lord Raoul turned upon hearing this and looked over to where Keladry was standing. Numb at what she was hearing, at first she thought he was looking at her. However, following his gaze, she saw him exchange dark, loaded gazes with Sir Wyldon. His look charged the air with an electricity which raised the hairs on Kel's arms.

He cut the first captive on the chain across the arm with the knife while the other slaver poured the black liquid all over the cut. After a while the struggling, screaming man just stopped fighting."

"Did he do this to all the prisoners?"

"Yes, until none of them resisted when the slavers pushed and shoved them about; they just simply stood in their chains silent."

"What purpose did the slavers have for bringing the two identical men?"

"He used them: when all the captives were subdued he cut off a finger from one of them without a sound coming from the man. It was as if he was just slicing bread. But instead of it bleeding, the wound oozed this silver coloured strange essence, liquid, substance onto the ground in a steady stream."

"Had any of you seen this liquid before?"

"Yes; a couple of us had seen it in No Man's Land as part of our sweeping teams."

"What happened next?" Lord Raoul's voice had not changed in pitch or tone but the intensity behind it seemed to increase.

"The slaver dropped the severed finger into the pool that had formed and a silver form grew out of it; somehow it just kept getting bigger and bigger until it was as large as a man, all from this small puddle. The identical man's finger had grown back by now, it was brutal to see – first bone then muscle reappeared."

"What purpose did the slaver have for cutting the identical human?"

"He cut the first man on the chain across the arm – the first man he had subdued? He dipped the knife into the blood coming from the wound and stabbed the giant silver form with it. He pushed the knife all the way in and left it there for a while as the shape changed colour and started to change shape hazily."

"What did it become?"

"A copy of the first captive."

At the man's words several gasps could be heard about the clearing. Every report of doubles had been correct; the men had truly been seeing identical human beings. Clones – created by the slavers.

"Did this happen to every prisoner?" Raoul asked quietly.

The leader of the watch answered just as quietly, looking about him at the crowds with a grim expression.

"Yes."

The noise in the clearing grew louder but only added to the dull roar Kel already had rumbling through her ear drums. The shock and panic of everyone witnessing the conversation soon drove the noise into nothingness however the silence echoed almost as much as the noise had done.

"The copies and the captives all stood unresisting and still, passive next to their captors. The slavers even released the chain of prisoners from their bonds and they remained unmoving. It was the strange and most disturbing thing I have ever seen."

The watchmen's words echoed for a moment until a loud voice from the back of a crowd on the east side called out.

"I fear that a long lost, forbidden form of Dark Magic has come back to our lands: a cloning technique that uses pain and suffering to enslave human and immortal beast to a single being's will..."

The mage Numair Salmalin, after a moment, stepped into the centre of the group to join Lord Raoul.


	26. Chapter TwentyFive: Dark Magic

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Dark Magic**

"Sir, from where did you all witness these events?" Numair the mage asked, clasping Lord Raoul's arm in silent greeting.

"From the trees not far off my Lord; we had left our horses by a less-murky swamp to drink and were travelling on foot to get closer to the enemy camp. When it seemed the caravan was not about to move on, we all took to the trees for safety."

"You were all very lucky then to remain undetected. I wonder though, did any of you see the slavers use any words you could not understand or speak any form of incantation with this ritual?"

The men who had returned from the watch conferred for a moment. At last, the leader turned back to his commander shaking his head.

"Then I suggest," Raoul spoke with a sigh, turning slowly to address every man witnessing. "I suggest we presume that the men behind these kidnappings, these slavers under this unknown Commander, are amassing an unresisting, unthinking army to some unknown ends. At least now men, we know the force we are drawing up against."

Numair nodded his head in resignation, sighing.

"Although it is dark magic I have no idea how this Commander is managing to turn captives from fighting, resisting Own's men into passive shells of themselves. My study of the field of evil has been brief at best; even the most powerful of mages can be corrupted by the idea of the dark arts. I never wanted to tempt myself; I don't flatter myself by believing my will power to be that strong..."

"Do you have any clue about what we are fighting Mage Salmalin?" Sir Wyldon asked from where he stood on the rim of the clearing which surrounded Lord Raoul, the mage and the watch.

"My guess is the silver essence is some kind of strange Immortal summoned by this Commander from the Immortal Realms, something that has never ventured here before. I've heard tales of creatures that held no true form of its own and yet could copy any life essence of another which it touched." The mage replied. "They would be the colourless grey blobs of matter your men have recorded, my Lord."

"What else do the tales say?"

Raoul was frowning at all that he heard, an expression which was mirrored by most of the men who surrounded him. Lady Kel herself was numb to emotion, involuntarily absorbing everything she heard without thought.

"One of my teachers long ago argued that any creature without a form of its own was borne from a relative of necromancy; creatures made up of so much different bloodlines from other slain races that it simply could no longer possess its own form, as watered down by others as it was. The fact that these creatures are predominantly silver in all accounts makes me believe they are Immortal in some way: after all, all slain Immortals bleed silver blood. If the stories were true and these creatures came into contact with soldiers they could be copied over and over, turning a group of ten or so into hundreds..."

"Which would be excellent for any warlord if these copies could be controlled in some way..." Sir Wyldon finished slowly in a grim tone.

Slowly the pieces of the puzzle were being aligned in a way that made the hairs on the back of every soldier's neck in that clearing, rise.

"Makes me wonder why they needed to take so many prisoners," Numair added idly thinking aloud. "Why not take ten that will not be missed, and simply make thousands of copies?"

At his question, murmurs of discontent and fear rose around the group of men. Soldiers of every kind shifted on their feet in agitation, talking to their friends and workmates to try and understand it themselves.

"How come we saw some of these Immortals dead then mage?" Raoul asked loudly, seemingly in an attempt to bring order to the group.

"That I do not know, perhaps they have a weakness or are as susceptible as the life force they have copied to injury?"

Lord Raoul looked about himself swiftly, seeming to Keladry as if he had noticed the discontent rippling through his troops all of a sudden. He raised both his hands up, palms flat, begging his men for quiet. Immediately, they gave it.

Their Commander asked for little other than their respect and deference so all were eager to oblige.

"The Mage Salmalin has given us much to consider and analyse; I will talk with him further and ask you have patience. When I have learnt all I can I will give your leaders information with which to brief you. Prepare yourselves men soon we will meet with this enemy."

Men began to disperse immediately in every direction.

Kel hung back for a moment and watched; Raoul took the mage into the Council tent and gestured for Sir Wyldon to follow them. Despite their rapport the two older Knights relied upon each other and greatly respected the other's thoughts and ideas. It was good for the realm that both were here on this mission. Kel smiled a little as Durg gave a departing wave in her direction as he led his band of men back towards where it had such a small while ago, been eating dinner. Despite his smile the Lady Knight could see the rigidity in his movements and the stiffness in his back, that the old soldier had also been deeply affected by what he had heard.

Fear however, she thought, was good in this situation. It kept men sharp and alert, if they were on edge from all they heard about their enemy they would be twice as determined to save the realm and their families from it, twice as determined that the despicableness they had witnessed never entered the direct sunlight of reality. She, in particular was eager to keep this Commander and his band of unnatural monsters away from the clearing of normal civilisation.

What she had heard had sickened her.

In her mind's eye the words of such a knowledgeable and realm renowned mage had given birth and nurtured ghastly images. If Immortal creatures could pretend to be other beings then the suspicion and paranoia that would occur if they were to remain on this plane would have a deep and painful effect on the realm. Gods knew she could see the importance and weight their mission now held but she would still be the first to admit that she was scared of facing such a foe. There were so many unknown factors and details that could cause the fight to swing in the favour of their opposition if they were to face them too soon.

Wryly she noted to herself that this mission more than most showed just how much chance, luck and gambling affected the outcomes of her line of work. There were no guarantees or insurances; sometimes people fell in the line of duty.

Just as her mind threatened to swoop to an even darker level within her, to conjure up thoughts of desperation which although she knew were unhelpful and unproductive could not stop, a low voice behind her broke through her train of thought.

"We all were not expecting to hear things were quite that serious, breathe..."

Lady Kel closed her eyes. The voice, as it continued, flew inside her head chasing away the dark thoughts. It replaced them with a feeling of fleeting calm which she did little to fight as fragile as she knew it was.

"We are all afraid but if we remain vigilant and focussed we will win, for Tortall..."

She knew the voice was right. The chill in her bones melted at the words leaving behind stirrings of resilience which had never abandoned her quite so quickly at the sight of a fight.

"Kelhen?"

Upon hearing his endearment for her, Keladry turned around and finally opened her eyes again. Her lungs expanded at the sight and allowed her for the first time in a while, to take a full deep breath.

"Don't despair quite just yet," Francis continued, speaking slowly and soothingly as if calming a flighty horse. "Just because we know some more about what those despicable men have been doing does not mean that the good old-fashioned might and skill of the realm will not beat those dogs back."

"It's like the Immortal Wars all over again," the Lady Knight whispered quietly.

"It's a new enemy yes," Francis replied taking a step towards her slowly. "It's a dark art that has not been practised by anyone in hundreds of years, yes. It's a foe that has not been come across by anyone before let alone the mighty Protector of the Small, but that does not mean it cannot be vanquished just like all the other new beasts which were defeated in the Immortal Wars."

"But how many will fall before we uncover the ways to best them?"

Kel's question caused Francis to pause for a moment. In those seconds he simply looked at her and waited for her panic to subside.

"It's all in the line of duty Kelhen, these men know what they're getting themselves into. We all do."

"I know that," Kel replied sharply. She took a breath and forced her eyes to shutter as a calming mask fell over her features. It felt strange to use it with Francis but she wasn't quite ready for all her fear to be revealed to him. She didn't want him to think she was weak after all. "I'm just thinking aloud that's all."

The lady knight began to turn away, ready for him to stop trying to understand her every thought. Before she could however, Francis noticed the change in her.

"Wait a minute, don't shut me out!"

He tugged on her arm hard, spinning her back around to face him. He examined her expression with a sour look on his face that pulled at her heart strings. Without removing his scowl he took hold of her hand and silently pulled her behind a large, ancient oak nearby. Here, out of earshot and eye sight of anyone loitering he backed her up against the tree trunk and finally let go of her.

"You don't have to hide from me Kelhen. You don't have to pretend to be calm and in control, around me you're allowed to lose it!"

Francis sighed and ran an agitated hand through his hair, searching for the right words to explain to the lady knight that she didn't need her professionalism with him.

"I enjoy seeing you relax," he said slowly, watching her expression carefully. "When I see you stop hiding or worrying around me, it makes me feel like I'm doing something right, something good. I won't every judge you for feeling Kelhen..."

The truth in his words hit her so hard that the features of her face fell into lines of surprise out of their hard expression.

Francis smiled when he read the slight shock and overwhelming happiness in his lady knight's eyes. Before she could speak he took a step towards her and with deliberate, gradual movements leaned towards her, placing his hands on either side of where her head lay against the tree trunk. He transferred his weight onto his hands and inch by inch brought his body flush with hers, trapping her deliciously between the tree and the hardness of his chest.

"Francis..." Kel began hoarsely but was unsure how to finish her sentence. Did she really want him to stop and let her go? Or if she spoke again would she beg him to stay right where he was and step over the invisible line they had placed between themselves in the past couple of days.

"Don't," her knight replied quickly. He smiled lightly taking another step towards the tree so that his feet ended up between hers and he stood up straight. He looked down at her and Kel imagined he could see straight into her soul. "Just give me this moment and then I'll go back to all that craziness."

His head blocked out the dying light from her gaze so that all she could see were the shadows and planes that made up Francis' beautiful face.

His eyes loomed so large in her vision that she thought she could lose herself within them, escape the battlefield through the cool deep waters that lay guarding his soul, until all the madness was over with. Kel brought a hand up to Francis' face and traced the line of his jaw feeling the day old stubble that had sprouted there, making her smile. It made him seem so real to her; more so than the fact that she could feel every line of his body pressed right up against her in a way that felt as wrong as it was for the circumstances. She cupped his face in her hand feeling the warmth of his cheek and the heat that increased within it as a dark bloom rose to the skin there. His pupils were huge and his mouth hung open as he gasped for breath. She wriggled between the tree and his chest trying to raise herself up to see better into his eyes, to see what was making him behave so but she only caused him to groan.

Thinking she had hurt him unknowingly, Keladry froze and looked up into his face.

With another groan Francis moved one of his hands from the rough tree bark that was digging into Kel's back to grip her chin between finger and thumb. He lifted it up, tipping her face upwards like a flower to the sun and kissed her deeply, deeper than he had done in days.

His other hand softly played with the strands of hair that had escaped her band then traced downwards, sweeping her neck and shoulders leaving a smouldering trail of heat in its wake. Instead of behaving, his wicked hand continued onwards tracing the combination of curves and muscle that was Kel's side until it rested and gripped her hip, making her gasp into his mouth.

At the sound Francis moved his face back a fraction of an inch, giving them both room to pant for breath.

"I know you've promised once but tell me again," Francis started in a gasp. "Promise to look after yourself when I'm not there to get your back, because my gut says soon we're going to be at opposite ends of our battle formations. There's nothing I can do about it, as much as I want to, so promise me that you'll fight so hard that afterwards we can see whether this, this heat remains in a less stressful environment..."

Kel laughed lightly at his phrasing and nodded. Francis' thumb ran along the smile of her lips and she laid a quick kiss on the calloused skin there.

"I promise as long as you make some time after this mission to come away with me, and Tobe."

Francis murmured his agreement before kissing her again. There was no need to say anything, the moment was perfect for Kel. She never had felt surer about the way she felt for someone before; with Francis she was certain that even in the calm and peaceful lull that came after battle she would still feel as if a fire raged within her chest every time he so much as looked at her.

The last Lady Kel saw of Sir Francis on that fateful night was his smiling face turned towards her as he looked back over his shoulder. He was returning to his men and just in time she thought. His expression when he had pulled away from her a second time had anticipation rolling about in her stomach in a way that was not appropriate at all. Feeling light-headed, giddy and happy Keladry watched that very special man walk away from her, not knowing that this memory would keep her alive for the next couple of months or that this was the last time she would feel any degree of happiness for a while...

* * *

**_Hi Guys - another shortish one I'm afraid but this is the only way I saw to give Francis and Kel the moment they needed before the craziness begins. Some reviews of the past few chapters would be real helpful guys and dolls just so I know that you're liking the direction this is going in. I mean, I have the next five or so chapters sketched out roughly but the end is still a little blurry (that's right we're getting into the final stages... shocking I know...) I need some help and guidance from my ever faithful readers so please drop us a couple of lines?_**

**_Much love and gratitude to you all!_**

**_X x x_**


	27. Chapter TwentySix: Reminiscing

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Reminiscing**

Walking back through the maze of tents and male clutter, Keladry watched soldiers and knights bustle around in their own bed-time routines. Although it sounded childish, she knew every man and woman had a certain list of duties and rituals they had to perform in a certain order so as to feel ready and safe enough to return to their tent.

It was getting dark she noticed; the end of another day on this crazy mission. They seemed to be flying by at the moment – no sooner had one day begun, it was ending. She only had the roughest of ideas on how long they had been out in this strange land but she knew that Tobe would tell her exactly how long she had been away when she returned.

A pang ran through the deepest parts of her chest leaving an ache behind that resonated with the sound of her adopted son's name. She knew she had been deliberately avoiding thinking of him. When she did she realised just how much she missed him, how much she hated being away from him for long periods of time.

With a heavy sigh the Lady Knight filed the thoughts of her boy away in the back recesses of her head to be brought out at a more private time; in her own tent she would allow herself to think of him and perhaps write him a letter. She wasn't sure how she would get it out of the camp but she would feel better knowing that there was a piece of her on its way to him somehow.

She was returning to her own men – the men she had begun eating dinner with so long ago. She doubted there would be anything left but these men had refused to allow her to set up her tent with the Riders women. These men had insisted she sleep besides them and had set their tents up in a semi-circle around hers, encircling their Lady knight in familiarity and comfort almost as if they had known she might need it that night.

As she returned to them, she passed by men brushing down horses, sharpening weapons, washing clothing and simply sitting around campfires talking. Everyone was engaged in some kind of act of readying themselves for what was to come, even if it was only conversation; she would bet her horse that every discussion taking place at that moment was focussed on the information that had just been uncovered by the watch and the mage.

Despite the professionalism of everyone else, Kel found her mind turning to less relevant thoughts. Unbidden her head pulled memories of the recent past to the front for her to relive. More specifically, the sight of the two men sat beside a campfire talking was all it took for Keladry to start rethinking the time she slept outside with Francis beside a dying fire. She had felt so happy in that moment; after such a long and stressful day on the mission and leading the tired and sore men until they had to be ordered to bed, such a golden moment had lifted her spirits. It had also been the first time she had allowed herself to revel and believe in what she and Francis had been feeling. It had been the first instance when there was a hint of what their relationship could blossom into.

Even after taking her place at another campfire by Durg, Kel continued to reminisce over the time she had spent with Sir Francis. Surrounded by men of the Own as she was, the Lady knight could not engage in the present, only lose herself in the past. The man chatted happily around her, demanding nothing for the moment from their leader, allowing her to slip further into her thoughts.

That night when she and Francis had fallen asleep together had been the first moment when she had allowed herself to feel; she had let her emotions run riot on the surface rather than being carefully guarded and hidden. As night fell again weeks later Kel felt the warmth that this lack of control had allowed her heart, the tightness in her chest like the tug she had felt for Tobe moments before but this one was uplifting. It replaced the sadness with a heat and passion Kel had never felt before for any other. If her head was occupied by Sir Francis, her heart was filled with him. After the moment they had had together earlier this evening, Kel felt consumed by him. Every pore seemed to cry out for more; more time in his presence, more closeness, just simply _more_. Her body asked for so much more that she wasn't entirely sure what it was crying out for but she knew that all she wanted to do was obey.

In that moment she made a decision: to simply stop running.

She enjoyed the feelings and delicious sensations Francis caused within her. She enjoyed his company and his laughter. She respected his thoughts and mind and his skills as a knight. What more did she need?

Lady Kel had never felt more alive and happy even when in the middle of such a high-pressure environment. In a moment she vowed to let whatever was going to happen between them happen, and to hell with the consequences. It was so tiring trying to hide everything from him, to be strong and resilient against him. And frankly, she didn't want to do it anymore.

Buoyed by her decision Lady Kel promised herself that the next time she saw Sir Francis she would try and make time to tell him of her resolution. She knew it would please him as much as it had thrilled her. After all, he had put her at ease so much in the past few days it was about time she did the same thing for him.

Lost in her thoughts as she was, Lady Kel did not hear any of the conversation going on around amongst Durg and his men.

"Look at her," Durg said shaking his head in that fatherly way he gained whenever he spoke about anyone his junior. "She's absolutely miles away from here again."

"Well we'd all lay wages as to why," Jowal replied patting his friend's shoulder. He smiled, looking back between the older soldier and the young Lady Knight he trusted, liked and respected more than any other woman he knew.

"We'd all win a great deal of money too..."

The muttered comment came from the other side of the campfire, where Yansor and Qeyran sat. Younger than Jowal, they were young enough to have been classmates of Lady Kel had they been fortunate enough. Both felt a kinship towards her and protectiveness that would rival any of those who would call her their true school friend.

The light-hearted talk about the presently-absent Knight took all of the mens' minds off what they had heard earlier. Each and every one of them knew that dark times were ahead, but for now it was nearly time for sleep and dwelling on what was hiding in the growing darkness would not help anyone rest.

Durg sighed and stretched his arms over his head as the younger men continued to chatter about the growing attraction they had witnessed between their two commanding Knights. As he opened his eyes from a deep yawn he caught sight of Captain Domitan leaning against a tree, staring intently at Lady Kel. At this the protective father in him stirred uneasily making him scowl. Leaning forward with his forearms on his knees he spoke in a low tone, catching the eyes of the men around him and discreetly nodding in the Captain's direction.

"And I'd lay odds that when this entire mess is over with, that man is just ready to cause some heart trouble for her too... he just doesn't know when to let pain rest."

* * *

After all the watch had reported, Domitan of Masbolle had stormed around the camp like a man on a mission. In truth, he was thinking. If he had sat down he would have fidgeted and pacing back and forth through the camp was much better – made him seem purposeful. After over an hour of internal argument and marching, Domitan found himself near where Durg and his men had set up their tents.

Not quite ready for conversation yet, or anywhere near finished in his silent contemplations, he leaned for a moment against a large tree. Positioned as he was he could see the campfire where the men were sitting but was far enough away to be inconspicuous which was desirable at such a moment when he was feeling unsociable.

For a while he watched as the men laughed and teased the tension out of each other borne from the watch's words. He envied them the ease with which they were able to push what they had learned to the backs of their minds for the moment. He had tried this with his own men but had always found it hard not to take the conversation straight back to what they had just discovered. The only person, who had ever been able to take his mind off evil, was currently striding towards the campfire in front of him.

It was if she had been transported to before his eyes because his thoughts had brought her to the forefront of his mind.

He studied the Lady Knight he had used to know well as she spoke a few words with the men and joined them in sitting besides the warm fire. She looked tired to him but, surprisingly, very well. She seemed to have a glow that resonated from within her rather than from the flames by which she sat. Her eyes shone and although she seemed to fade into silence, deep in thought, her body showed no signs of stress or fear. She was relaxed by the fire and every so often she smiled lightly to herself; the smiles that graced her face lighting it up to the very corners in a way the lights of the fire could not achieve.

In the past few days Dom had resigned himself to the fact that he was not allowed to be a part of Kel's joy and happiness anymore or ever again; after everything that had happened, even though she had forgiven him and they were on civil even friendly terms, it was all water under the bridge. Too much had occurred between them for him to ever be as friendly with her as he had once been; as much as he would like to be.

He knew that he would give anything to be able to turn back the time that had elapsed since they were so happy, so close. He wanted more than anything in the world to be the reason for Kel's happiness again but deep down within his heart, he knew this would never happen. But still he was happy that she was happy, kind of.

Despite his resignations, Dom didn't think he would ever give up trying with Kel, as much as it might at times make things awkward with them. He didn't know what it was about her, but she held a power over him that no other possessed.

All of a sudden as he watched, the Lady Knight looked up and caught sight of him watching her. Even coming out of deep thought as she had done, all at once, Dom admired the alertness in her eyes and posture. She truly was an amazing knight and woman in every way important and every other.

Dom's heart leapt into the back of his throat making it hard for him to breathe or swallow as he watched her smile in greeting, eyes warm at the sight of him but alight with friendship rather than any other emotion he used to think lay there.

The fact that she smiled made him certain that Kel had managed to finally walk away from what had happened between them all that time ago. Over the course of this strange and deadly mission she had made more progress than she had in all of the months before it. If he thought back to the way she had been towards him in New Hope – cold, distant and even slightly fearful he hated to admit – to how she was now, it made his heart warm at the change. He was happy to see her happy and returned more or less to the Kel he had used to know and love, than he had seen her in a long time.

Of course he was happy for her that would always go without saying, for anything that made her happy made him happy. But at the sight of her happiness and the distance he was from it, made Domitan wonder if he would ever be as truly happy ever again.

* * *

Having said goodnight to all of the men around the campfire Kel got up and stretched, ready to turn in for bed.

Tired but happy through and through, Lady Keladry thought as she walked slowly through the dimness towards her tent that this mission had snapped her back into herself again. She truly felt better than she had in months; active duty and a certain man had made her feel more emotion than she had in a long time and that more than anything had made her truly happy to be alive again.

"Off to bed Kel?" a low voice from the dark made her stop and look to the side.

Captain Domitan was walking towards her slowly, his voice having alerted her to his presence so as not to make her jump. Seeing him up close reminded Kel of the moment earlier when she had looked up, suddenly pulled from her thoughts by the sensation that someone was watching, to see him stood a way back from the campfire amongst the tents, watching her.

She had smiled at him, happy still from her thoughts and happy enough to extend a smile of friendship towards a man who had caused her so much heartbreak in the past but was difficult to avoid. She wanted to be friends, to leave the past in the past and get on with life. Now it was time to put that friendly attitude into practise.

"Yes, although I think I'm going to try and write to Tobe before turning in completely."

"Remember me to him, won't you? It seems like an age since I last saw him," Domitan smiled as her replied. Kel studied his eyes carefully; if there was any awkwardness between them on his part he was hiding it well.

"Perhaps we should change that after this mission," Kel began slowly, her mind clicking into action. "I know he misses you too, plus I have a favour to ask..."

"Anything, you know that."

Dom smiled a little at her and looked genuinely curious at what she would ask of him.

"He's thinking of enlisting into the Own once his schooling is finished, I wondered if you could talk to him about the realities of the choice he's making. He doesn't have much male influence in his life; my father tries but at his age..."

"I understand." Dom interrupted her as she struggled to finish her sentence. He smiled again and stepped closer to pat her shoulder gently. "Once this is all over we'll figure out a day to meet and I'll talk to him for you."

Kel smiled her thanks and Domitan walked on allowing her to continue to her tent. She was surprised at how easily they could be so civil to each other but a dark part of her mind sarcastically asked how long it would last. Ignoring this thought and chalking the exchange up as a success Kel entered her tent and set about collecting the necessary paraphernalia to write a letter to her son.

The letter did indeed assuage the ache in her chest from missing her boy.

In it she included the usual hopes and enquiries that he was ok and after his schooling. She also wrote to him about the people she was on mission with; telling him his uncles were with her as were several other men with whom he had become friends. She wrote about the three knights he had left her with, telling him more about them – the things she had learned about them on their travels from the palace and over the time they had spent in No Man's Land. She finished the letter by allowing the emotional, almost maternal side she had developed towards Tobe, to show. She told him that she was fine – no injuries that were particularly bad or serious. She told him of how much she missed him and how much she wished they had gotten to finish their holiday away together. Within her words lay a promise to take some proper time away together when she returned: time that no-one would interrupt.

She was just going about signing the letter in a way that Tobe would know was from her, but would not be harmful if read by anyone else, and encoding an address upon the front when she was pulled from the reverie that had surrounded the activity by noises outside her tent.

It had been a while since she had heard most of her men return to their tents and things had since grown quiet and still. The only light around her was the one coming from the candle which she was to write by. The wind had dropped allowing the air to become cool and still in a way which allow the soldiers easy rest, as if nature and the Gods wanted the men to be physically ready for the new day.

The sound of shuffling and breaking twigs broke this silence but was over almost as suddenly as it begun. At first Kel put it down to a man stumbling to the latrines in the dark, but when she heard it a second time, as she was almost in her bedroll, it was much closer and much more muffled. Someone was attempted to conceal their approach.

Instantly she was up.

Cautiously, she pushed her head between the door flaps of her tent to see if the thing making the noise was close enough to see. As she glanced around however all the Lady Knight could see was a dark unending blackness which had become characteristic to here of Tyran land.

Even now with her head out of her tent, Keladry could still here the noises. They were more insistent now; with the regularity of someone walking quickly and stealthily with an assurance that they would not be discovered. Kel pulled with head back inside her tent slightly, stretching one arm to her side to reach for her sword and jacket.

She had every intention of going out there and investigating what was making such noise in the dead of night. Even as tired as she had been before, she was alert and awake now. Her mind became still and focused in a way that came with training and years of experience.

Even the Lady Knight however was blind to the night. She failed to see the invisible hands that pulled her out of her tent until it was too late. A gag was placed over her mouth followed by a bag being placed over her head.

Left senseless and weaponless, Lady Kel could do little but fight and struggle as she was carried out of the camp which lay under the flag of Tortall.

* * *

_**Shorter than usual but setting up the next few I have planned. Reviews please :-)**_

_**X x x**_


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